LOS ALTOS, CA – The change in the Congressional majority will likely result in slower growth rates for U.S. military electronics production, according to a leading industry analyst.

Military electronics sales grew between 11.4% and 13.3% from 2004-06, Henderson said.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Sharp Corp. in the fourth quarter was toppled from the top spot in the global LCD-TV market, falling to fourth place, down from first in the third quarter, according to a new market share ranking from iSuppli Corp.

The dramatic shake-up in LCD-TV market share is due to the rapid progress made by Sharp’s competitors and their capability to capitalize on declining prices during the holiday season.

Samsung Electronics took Sharp’s previous position at the top of the rankings with a 16.8% share of LCD-TV unit shipments in the fourth quarter, up from 13.5% in the third quarter. Second place belonged to Philips Electronics at 15.1%, while Sony  came in third with a 13.1% share of unit shipments. Sharp was fourth with 11.4% in the fourth quarter, down from 13.9% in the third quarter.

Rounding out the Top 5 was LG Electronics (7.8% share).

“This is a significant blow to Sharp, which had been the dominant LCD-TV seller going into 2006,” said Riddhi Patel, principal analyst for television systems at iSuppli. “While its market share had been declining, Sharp had managed to maintain a considerable distance from its competitors. However, this is no longer the case.”

ROME, NY – The Electrostatic Discharge Association will hold a two-day device design seminar at its Rome headquarters this spring. The April 30-May 1 seminar includes ESD in industrial semiconductors; ESD models and ESD testing; ESD device operation; ESD circuit operation; technology impact on ESD design choices; special circuit requirements and their impact on ESD; CDM ESD protection; and design examples and case studies.
 
Device design and program manager tutorials will take place May 22 - 24 at the BU Corporate Education Center in Tyngsboro, MA: On-Chip ESD Protection in RF Technologies (May 22); Troubleshooting On-Chip ESD Failures (May 22); ESD Basics for the Program Manager (May 23); Packaging Principles for the Program Manager (May 24), and System Level ESD/EMI: Testing to IEC and Other Standards (May 24).
 
Three program manager tutorials will take place May 9 and 10 at the Holiday Inn, Bloomington, MN: How-To’s of In-Plant ESD Auditing and Evaluation Measurement (May 9), Cleanroom Considerations for the Program Manager (May 10), and Air Ionization: Issues and Answers (May 10).
 
For more information and to register, visit www.esda.org/education.html.
 
 

SHANGHAI - The schedule of activities for Nepcon China and EMT China has been announced. Activities will include SMTA workshops and conferences and Ministry of Information Industry-approved training for National Certificate for Key Personnel.

The events will take place at the Shanghai Everbright Center.

SMTA China will host conferences, workshops, committee meetings, a vendor’s day and an engineering certification session. SMTA China and the MII will jointly organize a SMT Technical Personnel Certification Program during the show.
 
More than 650 companies representing 22 countries will exhibit, Nepcon organizers say.
 
 

HORSHAM, PA – Avo Photonics has opened design and prototyping operations in Toronto.
 
The subsidiary will support ongoing opto-electronic design, development, and volume production services.
 
The Canadian team has experience developing products such as high-power optical isolators, light detection and ranging (LIDAR) systems, photometers, telecom lasers, photon-counting detectors, nonlinear optic waveguides and tunable lasers.
 

TOULOUSE, FRANCE -- Airbus SAS, the world's second largest aerospace maker, will cut 10,000 jobs -- 18% of its workforce --over four years and offload a half-dozen factories as it prepares to declare its first annual loss. The moves are part of a plan to reduce costs by some $2.8 billion annually by 2010.

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ST. LOUIS -- LaBarge Inc. named William Bitner vice president of operations, responsible for the EMS company's defense and government-oriented manufacturing operations. He succeeds Vernon Anderson, who is retiring

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MENTOR, OH – EMS provider Libra Industries named Albert “Al” Catani chief operating officer, effective immediately. Catani will focus on innovating supply chain and manufacturing capabilities, and on developing the program management and client services organization.
 
Catani was previously vice president of manufacturing at Lamson & Sessions.
 
He is a U.S. Army veteran.

WOODRIDGE, IL – Morey Corp. and GE’s Asset Intelligence division have signed a multi-year deal under which Morey will supply development engineering, manufacturing and logistics services in support of AI’s telematics products. No other terms were announced.
 
Morey will provide product roadmap support and will help prioritize and implement product enhancements and support development of new products. The EMS provider will supply low-to-medium volumes of products to AI, including prototyping services as required.
 

ATLANTA – UP Media Group has announced this year’s Free Tuesday lineup at PCB Design Conference West 2007.
 
PCB West takes placed March 25-30 at the Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center. Free Tuesday takes place March 27 between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m.
 
The day includes a keynote address by Henry Potts, vice president and general manager of Mentor Graphics’ Systems Design Division.
 
Also offered: 13 free technical sessions and the products and services exhibition. That night, there is an Opening Night Networking Extravaganza (happy hour on the show floor at 6 p.m., Casino Night and the Dawg House Lounge from 8 – 11).
 
For session times, speakers and exhibitor information, visit www.pcbwest.com.
 
 
 
 

THIEF RIVER FALLS, MN – Digi-Key Corp. will distribute Souriau’s circular and rectangular connectors, tools, accessories and contacts, the companies announced.

Separately, Digi-Key said it will distribute CSR products in North America, including BlueCore3 (Bluetooth v1.2 compliant), BlueCore4 (Bluetooth v2.0 and EDR compliant), Bluetooth development kits, software and accessories.

Finally, Digi-Key will distribute products for Amphenol Commercial worldwide, including D-sub, mini SAS, SFP, Infiniband, USB and RJ45 connectors.

No other terms were disclosed.
 

LOS ANGELES -- Last week’s Apex trade show was among the best I can remember for new equipment, materials and software. So much so, I would add, there is far too much to talk about here.

But I’ll take a shot.

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