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SAN JOSE, CA – The US market for electronic warfare systems is projected to exceed $1.4 billion by 2015, says Global Industry Analysts Inc.

The US is expected to upgrade its aging fleet of combat helicopter and tactical combat-aircraft, which would automatically increase the demand for advanced EW self-protection devices.

Since systems upgrades and modernization programs are less expensive than overall platform replacement, technological advancements are expected to play a key role for enhancing existing systems, according to GIA.

The US defense electronics market is projected to increase significantly, with defense electronics projects and extensive R&D programs expected to be the key drivers.

The industry is forecast to witness huge orders, owing to increasing focus of militaries on EW around the globe. Defense equipment manufacturers are expected to produce thousands of EW systems, such as electronic countermeasure systems, electronic support measure systems, and radar warning receivers. The production rate is expected to rise significantly over a period of 10 years, driven by the increased demand from military forces and the increasing danger across the global waterways.

SAN JOSE – Worldwide sales of semiconductors in May were $24.7 billion, up 47.6% year-over-year, and up 4.5% sequentially.

TEMPE, AZ – Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in June for the 11th consecutive month, according to the Institute for Supply Management. The PMI registered 56.2%, a drop of 3.5 percentage points.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – May North American PWB shipments increased 29.6% year-over-year, and orders were up 46.8% compared to the same month last year, says IPC.

SANTA CLARA, CA – First-quarter sales of notebook PCs grew to $31.1 billion, the largest single quarter since the third quarter of 2008, when notebook ASPs were more than 20% higher than at present, says DisplaySearch.

Although ASPs declined for desktop replacement notebooks, they increased for every other category, with double-digit jumps for mini-note PC/slate and ultraportable categories, according to the firm.

In the ultraportable market, a new crop of products that were launched in and around the January CES show helped push revenues up 6% sequentially, but they were still well below year-ago levels, as this category, which tends to be dependent on the enterprise market, continued to struggle.

Positive year-over-year revenue growth for the quarter was a result of strong mini-note PC/slate growth in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific, as well as continued growth in China and North America.

Portable class notebook PC Shipments surged compared to the same quarter last year in Asia-Pacific, China, and Latin America, easily passing average market growth rates for the segment. Shipments of desktop replacement class notebook PCs surged in Europe/Middle East/Africa and Japan, says DisplaySearch.

Shipment growth in the mini-note PC/slate category exceeded the average for the notebook market as a whole, but it appears the momentum is shifting from mini-note PCs to slates. In the fourth quarter of 2009, there were no consumer-oriented slates in the market, and the devices that did exist were targeted at small, vertical markets.
In the first quarter this year, Apple shipped almost 700,000 iPads into the channel, accounting for 6.5% of all mini-note PCs/slates.

In the first two months of the second quarter, the company sold more than two million iPads. DisplaySearch expects the iPad will continue to account for an increased share of the mini-note PC/slate segment in this quarter.

In the second half of the year, as additional slates are launched, the netbook could continue to lose share.

With the emergence of the iPad and other slates, the low-priced netbook segment of the market is transitioning from devices that, though smaller and less expensive, followed typical PC market trends that are built on Office suite applications and content creation to devices that provide the ability to create content.

STAMFORD, CT — Worldwide semiconductor capital equipment spending is projected to reach $35.4 billion in 2010, a 113.2% sequential increase according to Gartner.