Menlo Park, CA  -  OK International has hired Paul Brackell as global product manager for conduction soldering and array package rework. Brackell has already initiated a worldwide program aimed at supporting users of conduction and convection soldering and rework equipment as they make their final transition to lead-free production.

He currently heads an international team, including two market development managers, a product support manager for conduction and convection soldering products and an application engineering specialist.

BALTIMORE -- North American production of printed circuit boards will be flat this year, a leading analyst predicted.

Speaking Thursday at IPC's semiannual market research meetings, Dr. Hayao Nakahara said that production of circuit boards in North American rose 11% to about $5 billion last year, but that 2005's soft start makes it unlikely that growth will be achieved this year.

Dr. Nakahara, a PCD&M columnist who is widely recognized as the world's top authority on PCB production, said that North American-based PCB makers produced $890 million worth of high technology boards worldwide last year. Dr. Nakahara defined high technology as boards of 18 or more layers. The U.S. remains the top producer worldwide of such boards, with a 54% share, Dr. Nakahara said.

The figures do not include backplanes; the U.S. built $300 million worth of backplanes in 2004; about half the worldwide total, according to Dr. Nakahara.

However, North America's share of the overall PCB market is 14%, down from about 40% in 2000. Most of North America's loss has been China's gain: the nation has surged to 25% share, up more than 15 points during that period.

From 1995 to 2000 North American companies spent $4.8 billion on acquisitions of PCB capacity. Of that sum, just $1 billion worth remains open, Dr. Nakahara said.

PCB Production Forecast, 2005-07
                2005 2006 2007

China         34.0 26.0 16.0

N. America     6.0 2.0 1.0

Japan         1.0 1.2 1.4

Europe         1.0 1.0 1.0

S. Korea       22.0 15.0 10.0

Taiwan         15.0 7.0 5.0

Thailand       5.5 4.0 4.0

Source: N.T. Information Ltd., May 2005

PALO ALTO, CA -- Inventory throughout the supply chain decreased in the first quarter of 2005, albeit not as fast as sales/COGS, resulting in a moderate decrease in inventory velocity. 

Deutsche Bank analysts believe communications OEMs will likely work inventory levels lower in 2Q and 3Q in the face of only moderate end market demand (negatively impacting near-term EMS demand).

PALO ALTO, CA -- IBM recently held an analyst meeting in New York that provided an update on the company's view of IT spending trends, an overview of its strategic positioning, actions it is implementing to take advantage of market opportunity, a recap of the 1Q miss, and an update on recent business trends. 

According to Deutsche Bank analysts, the actions IBM is taking to drive standardization and cost reduction in services will better position the company for profitable share gains.  In the near term, recent improvement in bookings trends (in both services and hardware) provides greater visibility on near-term performance. 

In addition, DB states that benefits from restructuring, new product cycles in servers and microelectronics, and a potential mainframe cycle could support a solid 2H EPS recovery.