NEW YORK – New York canceled a $2 billion, 20-year contract with M/A-Com Inc., to build a statewide wireless emergency network, citing failures in the initial systems.
In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Tyco, the parent of M/A-Com, asserted it has fulfilled its side of the contract and expressed disappointment with the state. The company suggested the state’s financial woes were to blame.
The state in response claimed said the contract was canceled after the first systems installed by M/A-Com reportedly were flawed. The state claimed internal tests and independent audits found several flaws ranging from equipment failures to “inconsistent” coverage. The state further claimed M/A-Com was slow in remediating the problems, leading New York to lose confidence in the company.
For its part, Tyco said in the SEC filing that New York’s “current priorities may no longer support the construction of a statewide network.”
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- According to a Frost and Sullivan report, revenues for the PCB automatic test equipment (ATE) market topped $1.16 billion in 2007 and are expected to reach $1.85 billion in 2014.
Frost and Sullivan concluded that the most notable trend supporting this growth is an increased usage of combination testers because of the versatility of this approach when applied to high density circuit boards and components. Manufacturers using a combination of methods can optimize yields. The combination of functional testing and boundary scan testing has become popular in spite of high equipment cost because it can reduce the overall cost of testing.
“In today's electronic industry, it is highly imperative to have sufficient test coverage to improve product quality, reduce time-to-market and improve manufacturing yields,” saysFrost & Sullivan research analyst, Sujan Sami. “Especially in a situation where device complexity, functionality of chips and circuit board architectures are on a rise; cost-effective and efficient test solutions will be the key, and the right combinational testers expect to play a major role.”
“The need for more sophisticated products, especially in the extremely demanding automotive and medical industries drives the need for better quality oriented test equipment,” notes Sami. “The modular functionality of integrating various types of test equipment expects to surpass the need for individual hardware and software testing moving forward.”
WASHINGTON -- Industry business leaders are calling on Congress to renew the depreciation laws tied to the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, which allowed companies to reduce the time it take to recoup outlays for capital equipment.
Per H.R. 5140, Congress shortened the time frame under which certain businesses assets could be depreciated. The rules expired Dec. 31.
"A strong manufacturing sector is critical to a rapid economic recovery," wrote Matthew Holzmann, president of Christopher Associates, in one letter. "It would seem from the headlines that only certain industries would benefit from many of the proposals in Congress at present. Reinstatement of accelerated depreciation, especially as written in H.R. 5150, will help all industries and is a real, tangible tool for keeping America strong."
SINGAPORE -- A local union of electronics workers says 2,000 more layoffs are expected this quarter. That almost equals the sum -- 2,300 -- of the union's layoffs from all of last year.
The United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries unionsays many of the displaced electronics workers will be retrained to find jobs in the medical and hotel industries.
ARLINGTON, VA -- Electronic component orders fell in December for the second consecutive month, according to the monthly index compiled by the Electronic Components Association (ECA).
The 12-month average, comparing 2008 results to those from 2007, continued a descent that began this summer.
“Most manufacturers have seen declining results in November and December,” says Bob Willis, ECA president, in a press release. “There may be a modest positive bump in the first quarter of 2009 as inventories are adjusted, but there is little or no significant growth anticipated until the late third or fourth quarter.”
TAIPEI, TAIWAN – Foxconn Electronics’ unconsolidated revenues fell 9.4% for December to NT$122.15 billion (US$3.68 billion). Growth for the year was lower than predicted, despite a 20% rise in unconsolidated revenues to NT$1,470 billion (US$44.16 million) for 2008. The company’s subsidiary, Foxconn Precision Components (FPC) saw an 18.56% decline in consolidated revenues for December to NT$15.92 billion (US$479 million). Consolidated revenues for the year rose 22.39% to NT$163.34 billion (US$4.9 billion).
