ST. LOUIS -- LaBarge Inc. won $8 million in contracts from Raytheon Missile Systems to provide cable assemblies and an integrated firing unit assembly for the Tactical Tomahawk cruise missile. The company anticipates follow-on orders.

Production will take place at LaBarge's Joplin, MO, and Huntsville, AK, facilities and is expected to continue through October 2007.

LaBarge, an EMS provider, is a Raytheon preferred supplier and received Raytheon's 2004 Leadership Excellence Award for outstanding business practices.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — The global television market is rapidly changing, and so are the rankings among the global leaders, according to iSuppli Corp.

First quarter leader TTE Corp. of China fell to third place in the unit-shipment rankings in the second quarter, supplanted by LG Electronics Corp. and Samsung Electronics, which took the first and second, respectively.

TTE’s market share for global television unit shipments dropped to 9% in the second quarter, down from 11.2%. LG's share rose from 9.7% to 11 %. Samsung achieved the biggest gain, rising to 10% from 8.6%.

TTE’s loss was the result of a slowdown of television shipments in its home market in China, where the second quarter is slower due to the end of the Chinese New Year gift-giving season. Meanwhile, Samsung surged in the LCD- TV arena and LG took the top spots both in CRT and plasma display televisions.

“The shift at the top of the leader board reflects the radical changes throughout the television industry,” said Riddhi Patel, principal analyst for television systems. “The rapid decline in CRT television shipments is rippling through the market as flat-panel TVs become increasingly price competitive.

“Furthermore, DTV demand is beginning to take shape and more consumers are making the transition from analog in order to make their home-entertainment systems future proof," Patel added. “This also is causing consumers to buy more flat-panel televisions in the 40" size range, as opposed to 27" to 29" televisions a few years ago.

iSuppli predicted 5.7% growth in worldwide television unit shipments in 2006, to 187.7 million units. By 2010, the global television market will expand to 226.6 million units.”

CRT TVs will lose their historical dominance of the TV market in 2009, when they will account for about 42% of unit shipments, while LCD-TVs share will grow to 47.9% that year.

 

 

Competition sharpens

While the ranking among the top LCD-TV OEMs remained the same for the second quarter, a shake-up among the dominant manufacturers may be coming, as Sharp Electronics Corp. saw its nearest competitors come dangerously close to surpassing its leadership position.

Sharp had 15.2 percent of the LCD-TV unit shipment market share in the first quarter of 2006. This number dropped to 14.5 percent in the second quarter, drawing Sharp closer to the No. 2 position. Samsung increased its LCD- TV market share from 12.4 percent in the first quarter to 14.2 percent in the second quarter, only a fraction of a percentage point behind Sharp. Sony Corp. also increased its market share to 13.8 percent in the second quarter, up from 12.2 percent in the first.

iSuppli’s second quarter rankings for LCD television shipments are shown in Table 2 below and attached.

 

NORCROSS, GA -- Siemens Automation & Drives will integrate Factory Logic's Lean Operations Suite into its Siplace placement equipment, the companies have jointly announced.

Factory Logic's software synchronizes production pace and material flow with customer demand.  

The software resides on corporate IT systems and interfaces with the placement machines on the factory floor.

TAIPEI -- BenQ will move its Taiwan-based handset production to China and possibly sell its cellphone manufacturing plants in Europe as part of cost-cutting measures designed to return the ODM to profitability.

BenQ Mobile, the firm's handset business, will be made a standalone entity, while its contract assembly work will be spun off and renamed, according to various news reports.

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ROSEMONT, IL — The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative and IPC will produce a half-day forum on emerging environmental regulations around the globe on Sept. 28, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center here in suburban Chicago.

The forum, Life after EU RoHS, will also identify collaborative efforts to close policy and technology gaps in preparation for future legislation.

“There are a number of new requirements being implemented in Europe, Asia, and the U.S., and industry needs to be involved in the policy discussions as well as preparing for the technology challenges” said Fern Abrams, director of environmental policy for IPC.  

The forum will provide an overview of key legislation that is currently pending, such as EU REACH, EU EuP, China RoHS and state laws in the U.S., plus review policy monitoring and advocacy efforts underway.  Participants will also identify policy and technology gaps and discuss potential new efforts to close them. 

Forum speakers include:

• Robert C. Pfahl, vice president, iNEMI
• Fern Abrams, director of environmental policy, IPC
• Jean-Philippe Brisson, associate, Allen & Overy
  
• Thomas E. Valliere, senior vice president, Design Chain Associates.
  

“Although many electronics manufacturers are already involved in the policy debates underway, communication between the policy and technology functions within companies could be improved,” said Pfahl. “As was the case with RoHS/WEEE, a number of these new regulations will require multiple functions within companies to develop effective and traceable solutions that harmonize with existing product and process requirements.”  

For additional information about the forum, go to http://www.inemi.org/cms/calendar/SMTAI_2006_Life_after.html

SAN FRANCISCO – It’s becoming a mantra: Inventory levels at EMS providers are rising. Deutsche Bank yesterday became the latest to make that assessment, issuing a research note that claimed roughly $3 billion of excess inventory in stock at contract manufacturers.

However, the supply chain will rid itself of most of the overages over the next six to 12 months, DB said. Further, it’s the component manufacturers and distributors whom are most at risk to suffer, DB said.

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AMSTERDAM – A just-released Greenpeace study investigating the presence of certain hazardous substances in five popular laptop computers found only one – an H-P model – contained lead.

The study also looked at testing methodologies for verifying the presence of the substances. However, it was not Greenpeace's intent to test each product's compliance with the RoHS Directive.

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MINNEAPOLIS – The SMTA will move its signature event, SMTA International, to Orlando next year, the trade group said.

The show is scheduled for Oct. 7-11, 2007, at the Gaylord Palms Hotel and Convention Center in Orlando.

The show has been sited in Chicago the past several years, in conjunction with the Assembly Technology Expo trade show.

SMTAI 2006 takes place next week at the Rosemont Convention Center.

NEENAH, WI -- Plexus Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase a manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia, bringing its total there to three. Production is expected to begin late in the second quarter of fiscal 2007.

Plexus will invest $13 million to build new offices and laboratories for the 364,000 sq. ft. facility, which is located on a 23-acre site. Construction is expected to be completed in the first fiscal quarter of 2007.

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CLINTON, NY – Indium Corporation Corp. recently donated its business jet for the Special Olympics Airlift, which provides transportation to more than 1,500 athletes from all over the country to the 2006 U.S. National Games in Ames, IA.  Indium’s plane was among 235 that were volunteered to transport the athletes to Iowa for the start of the games, then back home again after the closing ceremonies.

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