Market News

TORONTO – Firan Technology Group Corp. (FTG) reported second-quarter sales dropped 11% from last year to $14.6 million on decreased customer demand and the shifting US exchange rate. 
 
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BANNOCKBURN, IL — A US trade group has launched a campaign to convince the environmental agencies and governments of Germany and Sweden to keep Tetrabromobisphenol(a) (TBBPA) legal in electronics products.
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SAN JOSE The 90-day moving average sales of semiconductors rose 5.4% sequentially to $16.5 billion worldwide in May, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported.
May sales were down 23.2% year-over-year, but it's the third straight month of growth for the sector.
 
“The May sales numbers reflect the third-consecutive month of sequential growth for the semiconductor industry,” said SIA president George Scalise in a statement. “The sequential monthly increases lead us to be cautiously optimistic about a return to normal seasonal patterns for the industry going forward.”
 
Scalise noted that as semiconductors become ever-more pervasive in a growing array of products, the global microchip industry increasingly mirrors the performance of the overall economy. “As consumer confidence returns and the economy resumes growth, we expect the industry to reflect those patterns,” Scalise said.
DALLAS – Just how addicted are consumers to their smartphones? According to Parks Associates, enough to push annual global sales to over 300 million units by 2013, compared to 131 million units last year.
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WASHINGTON – The Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) has a strategy to track the electronics industry’s carbon footprint, with the recent implementation of the Carbon Reporting System. 
 
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HERNDON, VA – The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative today released a statement defining low-halogen (BFR/CFR/PVC-free) for electronics products. 
 
For PCBs and board laminates, iNEMI members define low halogen as containing no more than 1500 ppm of total halogens in the resin plus reinforcement matrix, and no more than 900 ppm (each) of bromine or chlorine.
 
For components, each plastic in the component should contain less than 1000 ppm of bromine, if the source is from brominated flame retardants, and less than 1000 ppm of chlorine, if the source is from chlorinated flame retardants, PVC or PVC copolymers.
 
Members supporting the statement include Cisco, Dell, Doosan, H-P, Intel, Lenovo, Nan Ya Plastics, Senju Comtek, Sun Microsystems and Tyco Electronics.
 
The statement comes following iNEMI’s April announcement of its HFR-Free Leadership Program, through which several of the consortium’s OEM and supply-chain members are working to assess the feasibility of a broad conversion to HFR-free PCB materials.
 
Three specific project teams are now working on the program, including:
 
· The HFR-Free PCB Materials Project, which plans to identify technology limitations involved in transitioning to HFR-free PCB materials.
· The HFR-Free Signal Integrity Project, which focuses on ensuring no electrical signal degradation in HFR-free PCB materials.
· The PVC Alternatives Project, which evaluates alternatives to PVC (including additives) in electronic cable and wire applications using a lifecycle assessment approach. 

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