Printed Circuit Design & Fab Online Magazine - Market News

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WATERVILLE, ME – Robert Tarzwell has joined D.B. Management Group LLC as a consultant. His focus will be on research and development of printed circuit board technology.

Tarzwell brings over 30 years of experience to the position, having started his own PCB company in 1975. He has been a consultant for various companies since 2000, as well as an author. Prior to joining D.B. Management, he was a consultant for Sierra Proto Express for five years.

SAN JOSE – The 90-day moving average for semiconductor equipment orders from North America-based manufacturers was $263.5 million in February, down 78% from last year, the SEMI trade group said. The bookings figures were the lowest since 1991.

SINGAPORE – Singapore's exports to the US fell 44.4% year-over-year in February, pulling the nation's shipments down 24%.

Weak demand for electronics was among the reasons cited for the drop. Electronics exports dropped 31.9% to S$3.5 billion.

Shipments to the country's 10 top trading partners were down, except China. Sales to US customers dropped to US$673 million, but the percentage drop actually climbed slightly from a 50% plunge in January. Shipments to the European Union fell 36.7%, and sales to Japan dropped 38.9%.

HELSINKI – Nokia said it would cut up to 1,700 jobs, or about 1.3% of the company’s work force, in response to sluggish demand and the poor outlook for near-term recovery.

The company said the cuts will come in its device and media segments, plus corporate development and global support.

Cellphone sales were down 5% to 315 million cellphones in the fourth quarter, Gartner reported, and grew 2% sequentially despite the holiday buying season.

NEW YORK -- DuPont expects to nearly triple its annual photovoltaic sales to more than $1 billion in the next three years in part by delivering new technologies to the solar industry. The overall solar market size today is estimated to be $30 billion, and according to industry estimates, will increase to $70 billion by 2013.

“Through investments in materials, technology development and manufacturing, DuPont is accelerating its ability to deliver innovations that will improve the lifetime and efficiency of photovoltaic modules,” Dave Miller, group vice president, DuPont Electronic and Communication Technologies, said.

The company is channeling research and development resources into products for module manufacturing that include polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) films and thick film metallization pastes. Additional research is directed towards the thin film photovoltaic energy market where the projected growth rate is expected to be higher than that for crystalline silicon modules.