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Fab News

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 08 July 2009

FRANKLIN PARK, IL – American Standard Circuits (ASC) has received its second patent from the US PTO.

U.S. Patent 7,540,081 covers Thermasil Film, used to bond high- or low-frequency PCBs to metal heat sinks with thermally conducting, electrically insulating, silicone-based film.

The film can be made in thickness measuring 3 mil to 25 mil, with thermal conductivity from 1.5 W/mK to 4.5 W/mK.

ASC plans to license the technology.

Details: Written by Kathy Nargi-Toth; Category: Fab News; Published: 07 July 2009

SHANGHAI – The AT&S facility in Shanghai has been named the largest HDI site in China by a China Printed Circuit Association (CPCA) industry statistical report for 2008.

The report measures both PCB output and sales revenue. The plant produced more than 550,000 square meters of HDI PCB last year.

In 2008, the overall HDI area output in China fell by 1.21% year-over-year, and revenues dropped 2.33%. AT&S gained market share by increasing output by more than 15% and raising revenues.

The Shanghai operation is focused on high volume, laser-drilled HDI PCBs for mobile devices such as cell phones and digital cameras. Recently, HDI demand has also grown in the automotive sector, increasing the market size for these products.

With a total investment of about $500 million in the Shanghai facilities, AT&S is the largest Austrian-based, industrial investor in China. The Shanghai plant has a total of 100,000 square meters of manufacturing space and is the largest AT&S production site.

The CPCA ranked AT&S second in 2007 and fourth in 2006.

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 07 July 2009

ROGERS, CT – Rogers Corp. has launched a Chinese language website, providing streamlined links from markets to applications to products.

Users can search the product portfolio, as well as locate technical data and design tools to aid in the design process.

The website complements Rogers existing presence in the Asia Pacific region. The company has a manufacturing campus in Suzhou, China, and sales and technical support throughout the region.

To access the website, visit either: www.rogerscorp.cn.com or www.rogerscorp.com.

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Fab News; Published: 06 July 2009

GHENT, BELGIUM – Ucamco named Photo Chemical Systems its sales agent for New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

The company will handle the full range of Ucamco products, including the SilverWriter and Calibr8tor series of photoplotters, the Integr8tor PCB sales solution and SmartPlate.

Photo Chemical will work directly with Luc Maesen, president of LMCIS LCC, Ucamco’s US branch. He will provide direct support in the development of CAM and plotter solutions for customers, according to Karel Tavernier, managing director of Ucamco.

SOUTH TYNESIDE, ENGLAND – The deadline is looming for former employees of Viasystems. The GMB, Britain’s general trade union, is looking for some 150 ex-employees who could be eligible to file compensation claims for lost earnings.

TAIPEI, TAIWAN – There are only 175 shopping days until Christmas, but handset PCB makers are already ramping up for holiday sales increases.

Compeq Manufacturing, Unitech Printed Circuit Board and Unimicron Technology are forecasting monthly sales increases through September, reports DigiTimes. Third-quarter revenue is expected to increase 10% to 15% sequentially.

According to Compeq, it shipped about 32 million to 35 million handsets in the second quarter. June revenues are expected to remain flat compared to May, on low orders and the slow market recovery in Europe and the US.

The company is expecting third-quarter shipments to jump 14% to 25%, with a goal of 40 million units; HDI shipments for the quarter are expected to remain stable.

Unimicron reported utilization rates for PCB, HDI and IC substrate production are over 80%. Second-quarter revenues are expected to increase by at least 30%, reports DigiTimes.

Smartphone, mid-range to high-end handset, GPS and automotive PCBs shipments are on the rise, reports Unitech. Smartphone demand, not surprisingly, is particularly strong.