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Market News

SAN JOSE, CA– Cadence Design Systems Inc. has been raised from “underweight” to “overweight” by J.P. Morgan Securities. The upgrade is attributed to the company’s scheduled restructuring and contract renewals, according to the securities service.

There is still plenty of work ahead for Cadence, though. Management needs to breathe life into a lagging product portfolio while addressing new competition in its analog strong hold. The company's workforce also needs to be restructured to combat a decreasing demand for EDA.

The upgrade, according to market analysts, could increase margin expansion up to 21% by 2010. Meanwhile, company shares look good for the free cash flow multiple and discounted free share flow basis.

SAN JOSE – Freescale Semiconductors director of packaging technology Glenn Daves will keynote an upcoming MEPTEC symposium on packaging.

The symposium, Packaging Developments and Innovations: From System Design to Integrated Delivery, takes place Nov. 13 in San Jose.

In his presentation, Aligning of Packaging Development with the Market, Daves will discuss how the interplay of competing requirements and constrained schedules often makes market alignment a complex undertaking, and show examples of market requirements and the packages and technologies that resulted from the alignment process.

A second keynote, by Mike Crawley, will cover how to play a role in significant technological advances.

Other presentations include advanced packages and processes; packaging to board assembly trends; microelectronics substrate fabrication and assembly innovations, and design tools and co-design solutions.

To register, visit www.meptec.org.

TAIPEI – The China Economic News Service is reporting Foxconn is considering layoffs of up to 10 to 15% of its staff by year-end.

A layoff in that range translates to 60,000 to 90,000 staff, based on Foxconn’s reported employment figures.

The company regularly evaluates personnel and has laid off about 5% of its staff annually for the past several years, Foxconn spokesperson C.A. Ting is quoted as saying. However, it’s unclear how many of those layoffs are due to cost containment versus worker competency.

SMYRNA, GA – Registration for Virtual PCB is now open. Virtual PCB, sponsored by UP Media Group, is the industry's first virtual tradeshow for the PCB design, fabrication and assembly industry.

The online event will take place Nov. 12 – 13.

The free, two-day show can be accessed from anywhere in the world via a computer.

Virtual PCB provides on-demand educational presentations; private communications with exhibitors and other attendees; worldwide access to exhibitor booths and sessions; downloadable literature and product brochures; white papers; live, scheduled group chats with industry experts; live group chats with peers, and auditorium content.

For more information, visit www.virtual-pcb.com. To register, visit http://vshow.on24.com/clients/vshow/upmedia/register.htm.

WASHINGTON, DC – Congress has proposed legislation that would end the US Customs' and Homeland Security's right to seize laptops, phones, cameras and other electronics when US nationals enter the country.

Bills introduced last week by Sen. Russell Feingold (D-WI) and Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) provide traditional legal citizen protections to residents crossing borders back into the US, including standards of probable cause before electronics equipment can be searched, and require warrants for search and seizure.

Customs currently does not need suspicion of wrongdoing to search or seize electronics. Many victims of searches claim racial profiling.

In its defense, Customs asserts only 40 laptops were searched out of 17 million travelers over a two-week period, and not all of those were prevented from entering the country. However, the situation has been troubling enough warrant attention from Congress.

STAMFORD, CT – Gartner lowered its 2008 forecast for Asia/Pacific semiconductor growth from 6.4% to 5.2% on an annual basis, as a result of the global economic environment and poor consumer confidence.

However, the firm says emerging markets in India and Vietnam are experiencing higher growth compared to the slowing China/Hong Kong region.

"In the coming months, we expect to see signs of a widespread slowdown in the electronics sector, which in turn will have a direct negative impact on semiconductor sales," Gartner analysts said. The firm forecasts the region’s semiconductor revenue to grow from $149.3 billion in 2007 to $157.1 billion in 2008.

Gartner projects the CAGR of the China/Hong Kong semiconductor market from 2007 through 2012 will be 7.1%. China/Hong Kong will account for around 61.1% of the total semiconductor market in 2008, the researcher said.

Although, Gartner said it expects India and the Other Asia/Pacific to achieve higher CAGRs of 19.1% and 18.7%, respectively.

Gartner analysts say South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore are forecast to see continued falls in their semiconductor consumption revenue.

Gartner expects Asia/Pacific semiconductor revenue will grow by 8.4% in 2010, ahead of a cyclical downturn in 2011, when growth will drop to 2.5%, before returning to growth of 7.2% in 2012. A CAGR of 6.3% is forecast for Asia/Pacific from 2007 through 2012.