News
SAN JOSE, CA – North American manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.67 billion in orders in May (three-month average) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.0, according to SEMI.
BANNOCKBURN, IL – April shipments of rigid PCBs were down 12.8% and bookings were off 11.8% year-over-year, IPC reported today.
Shipments of rigid and flex boards decreased 12% year-over-year, and orders dropped 8.5%. Year to date, shipments are down 9.1% and bookings are down 16.5%. Compared to March, April shipments were down 16.2% and bookings were off 15.3%.
The combined industry book-to-bill ratio in April increased to 1.01, 1.28 for flex boards and 1.0 for rigid.
Year to date, rigid PCB shipments are down 9.9% and bookings are down 18.9%. Sequentially, rigid PCB shipments fell 15.5% and bookings decreased 12.6%.
Flex circuit shipments were up 3% and bookings were up 68.9% compared to April last year. For the year, flex shipments are up 3.9%, bookings 30.1%. Flex shipments fell 25.1% and bookings were down 39.2% versus March.
Shipments of rigid and flex boards decreased 12% year-over-year, and orders dropped 8.5%. Year to date, shipments are down 9.1% and bookings are down 16.5%. Compared to March, April shipments were down 16.2% and bookings were off 15.3%.
The combined industry book-to-bill ratio in April increased to 1.01, 1.28 for flex boards and 1.0 for rigid.
Year to date, rigid PCB shipments are down 9.9% and bookings are down 18.9%. Sequentially, rigid PCB shipments fell 15.5% and bookings decreased 12.6%.
Flex circuit shipments were up 3% and bookings were up 68.9% compared to April last year. For the year, flex shipments are up 3.9%, bookings 30.1%. Flex shipments fell 25.1% and bookings were down 39.2% versus March.
SAN JOSE -- Two of the largest EMS firms in the world will join forces as No. 2 Flextronics International this morning announced it would acquire No. 3 Solectron Corp. for $3.6 billion in cash and stock.
The combined company will have about 200,000 employees and annual revenue of more than $30 billion, ahead of the current market leader, Hon Hai (Foxconn).
The combined company will have about 200,000 employees and annual revenue of more than $30 billion, ahead of the current market leader, Hon Hai (Foxconn).
SPRINGFIELD, MA -- In the second largest EMS acquisition of the day, Nu Visions Manufacturing and San Francisco-based private equity firm Golden Gate Capital bought Veritek Manufacturing Services for an undisclosed amount.
San Marcos, CA-based Veritek has plants in San Jose and Longmont, CO.
SPOKANE VALLEY, WA – ACE Production Technologies has acquired all Drop-Jet Spray Head technology and its related products from Castle Controls & Automation.
ACE will offer the flux head as an option on its selective soldering products, and will announce standalone and inline fluxing products in the coming months.
No other terms of the agreement were disclosed.
ACE will offer the flux head as an option on its selective soldering products, and will announce standalone and inline fluxing products in the coming months.
No other terms of the agreement were disclosed.
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – A top stencil manufacturer has devised a process for eliminating wave soldering.
A recent paper authored by Photo Stencil vice president of technology Dr. Bill Coleman outlines a procedure called intrusive reflow, said to improve Pb-free material printing.
One objective of the study was to maximize the amount of solder paste printed into the through-hole. With proper squeegee speed and squeegee angle, 100% hole fill was achieved for 0.063"-thick boards and 85% hole fill for 0.093" -thick boards with a 0.006"-thick stencil. This reportedly resulted in good top and bottom fillets and continuous solder fill around the pins with a 0.006"-thick stencil for 0.063" and 0.093"-thick boards for resistors, DIPs and four-row header arrays.
X-rays of paste hole fill and cross-sections of through-hole pins after reflow are shown in the paper. To download the paper, visit www.photostencil.com/techpapers.htm.
A recent paper authored by Photo Stencil vice president of technology Dr. Bill Coleman outlines a procedure called intrusive reflow, said to improve Pb-free material printing.
One objective of the study was to maximize the amount of solder paste printed into the through-hole. With proper squeegee speed and squeegee angle, 100% hole fill was achieved for 0.063"-thick boards and 85% hole fill for 0.093" -thick boards with a 0.006"-thick stencil. This reportedly resulted in good top and bottom fillets and continuous solder fill around the pins with a 0.006"-thick stencil for 0.063" and 0.093"-thick boards for resistors, DIPs and four-row header arrays.
X-rays of paste hole fill and cross-sections of through-hole pins after reflow are shown in the paper. To download the paper, visit www.photostencil.com/techpapers.htm.
