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CHICAGO – Methode Electronics Inc. reported a third-quarter net loss of $27 million, compared to a net income of $9.8 million year-over-year. The decline is due to a $32.7 million charge for impairment of goodwill and intangible assets, $3.8 million in restructuring charges and weakened market capitalization.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Global mobile internet device unit shipments expected to expand by nearly a factor of eight from 2007 to 2012, according to iSuppli Corp.

WASHINGTON, DC – The National Association of Manufacturers' top commerce official is calling the Obama administration's trade policies "pragmatic" and open.

In a statement released on the trade group's website, NAM vice president for international economic affairs Frank Vargo called President Obama’s trade policy agenda "a pragmatic one aimed at opening markets and improving the U.S. role in the world economy. ... [I]t talks about improving trade agreements rather than reopening them, and it calls for greater emphasis on seeing that small and medium-sized firms can become more effective exporters and competitors in the global economy." Vargo said the latter is "a very important goal" for NAM, whose membership is largely made up of small- and medium-sized businesses.

"We were pleased to see that the agenda calls for correcting the current imbalance in the Doha Round, and seeking a strong and balanced market-opening outcome. The NAM has been pressing hard for such an approach and will work closely with the President’s trade team to achieve that important goal."

He also lauded the Administration for "reaching out to all stakeholders in framing its agenda."

Vargo also noted the agenda's call for a strong and effective stance on IP protection, which NAM sees as "one of the most essential parts of the NAM trade agenda."

HERNDON, VA – The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) plans to release its 2009 Roadmap in April. It is scheduled to discuss its findings at several global industry venues.

EL SEGUNDO, CA – The average pricing for PCBs is expected to decline for the first half of 2009, following declining costs for copper, says iSuppli Corp.

EL SEGUNO, CA — Eight of the Top 10 semiconductor firms suffered revenue declines for the year, according to iSuppli Corp.

The research firm's 2008 reveal that the majority of the industry’s leading companies not only saw sales declines, they also underperformed the overall chip industry for the year.

iSuppli cited a focus on poorly performing markets as a common thread. Some 60% of the Top 25 semiconductor suppliers saw year-over-year revenues decline as well.

Dale Ford, senior vice president, market intelligence services, noted many of the hardest-hit suppliers focus on semiconductor segments that performed poorly during the year — memory, DSPs, analog ICs and standard logic.

Among the nearly 300 companies covered in iSuppli’s global semiconductor rankings, 43% achieved flat-to-positive growth during 2008.

But among the Top 25 suppliers, just 10 firms grew — no. 5 STMicroelectronics, no. 8 Qualcomm, no. 11 NEC Electronics, no. 14 Broadcom, no. 15 Panasonic, no. 18 Sharp Electronics, no. 20 Rohm, no. 22 Marvell Technology, no. 23 MediaTek and no. 24 Fujitsu — and only six actually increasing their sales organically. Qualcomm, NEC, Panasonic, Sharp, Marvell and Fujitsu — saw sales climb 1.5% to 15.3%.

No. 9 Hynix posted the largest revenue decline among the Top 25, at 33.4%, which dropped the memory maker three spots.