Printed Circuit Design & Fab Online Magazine - Market News

Market News

SANTA CLARA, CA – As the transition to flat panel TV nears completion, TFT LCD TV panel demand is slowing, from 41% year-over-year in 2010 to 8.3% in 2011, says DisplaySearch.

Total TFT LCD panel area demand is expected to increase 10.4% in 2011, resulting in 11% TFT LCD glass area demand growth, accounting for time shifts and production yields, the firm says.

Coming out of a tight supply situation in 2009, TFT LCD glass substrate manufacturers have significantly increased capacity in 2010, with area growth estimated to be 32% year-over-year. DisplaySearch forecasts 13% year-over-year capacity growth in 2011. With panel makers cutting back on utilization, the firm predicts an oversupply situation in the first quarter, with a glut of 12.8%.

From the second quarter of 2009 to the second quarter of 2011, the quarterly area capacity of TFT LCD glass production is expected to increase 42%. The growth will be accomplished with a 15% increase in the number of tanks.

EL SEGUNDO, CA -- The global outsourced manufacturing industry sits at a crossroads heading into 2011, according to research ﬁrm iSuppli.

WASHINGTON -- Top Obama Administration officials this week are making repeated calls for China to relax its grip on its currency and foreign firms looking to do business there.

SAN JOSE -- Electronic chemicals used in producing printed circuit boards, ICs and other semiconductor chips will rebound from a sharp drop in revenues from 2007 through 2009 to reach $30.9 billion in sales by 2015.

Washington, DC -- The 90-day moving average worldwide semiconductor sales in November slipped 0.9% sequentially to $26 billion, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported today.

ARLINGTON, VA – A new report from the Consumer Electronics Association finds that industry-wide unit sales of US products registered with EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) grew 10% in 2009 to a total of 48.5 million products.

The CEA 2010 Sustainability Report, a compendium of 21 case studies from a variety of CE companies, also details noteworthy milestones in green design. One manufacturer conducted a comprehensive lifecycle analysis for every product it ships to determine where greenhouse gases are created. After discovering 97% of the emission derived from manufacturing and product use, the company focused on designing new products that use less material, smaller packaging, and are more energy-efficient and recyclable.

Also, many consumer electronics companies are switching to renewable materials, including bio-based plastics, or recyclable materials instead of clamshell packaging, and are looking to reduce the amount of packaging they use. For instance, one video service provider consolidated its shipments and decreased its use of cartons by more than one million in 2009, a 75% reduction from the previous year. In 2011, all of the providers’ products will be packed with 100% recyclable materials.

Furthermore, many manufacturers have set ambitious goals for reducing GHG at their facilities. Meanwhile, other companies have launched efforts to cut power consumption at their data centers.

According to the EPA, 27,000 CE product models currently meet Energy Star specifications. The average energy savings of Energy Star electronics devices range from 20% to 55%. One semiconductor design company created a chip that can reduce its GHG by up to 40% by combining the processing and graphics processing units and the Northbridge chipset onto a single chip.

The report also says the consumer electronics industry recycled 200 million lbs. in 2009, and industry supports more than 5,000 permanent collection sites nationwide. Some examples of these efforts include one CE retailer collecting 100 million lbs. at its 1,200 US locations and one computer manufacturer operating an eCycling program at more than 2,200 US Goodwill sites.