ARLINGTON, VA – Among dire economic news, electronic component orders held steady in June, says the Electronic Components Association.
The June order index coincided almost exactly with the 12-month average, which has been moving up slightly, the association says.
The results synchronize with recent analyst reports from the technology sector, a major customer for electronic components. Forrest Research reports tech sales to corporations have increased 3% year-over-year, while consumer sales are flat. While this is a far cry from recent years of 10% growth or more annually, it allays fears of a technology bust similar to 2001, says the ECA.
STAMFORD, CT – Gartner Inc. reported semiconductor sales would grow in the second quarter, reaching about $65 billion, up 2% sequentially and 8% year-over-year.
Last month, the firm predicted flat growth for the quarter.
Gartner cited a report from the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics that said May semiconductor sales were $20.5 billion; Gartner originally expected May sales of $19.8 billion.
The firm said first-quarter sales were $63.5 billion, up 4% compared to the same period last year.
For the first half of 2008, Gartner reportedly expects sales of $128 billion, up 5.5% compared to the first quarter of 2007.
The research firm said semiconductor sales revenue should total about $139 billion in the second half of the year, with 4% annual growth.
COVINGTON, KY -- Ashland Inc. announced it will buy Hercules Inc. for $2.6 billion.
Ashland will pay $18.60 in cash and a 0.093 share of Ashland stock for each share of Hercules stock, valuing that stock at $23.01 each, a 38% premium from Thursday's close. The deal will be financed by cash on hand and by committed debt from Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS).
Ashland said the acquisition will boost its presence in the specialty chemical market.
HERNDON, VA – A host of major OEM and EMS companies, under the auspices of iNEMI, has outlined a set of recommendations for managing Pb-free alloy alternatives.
The consortium members recommend the following to help manage the use of multiple solder alloys:
Drive convergence of Pb-free alloys.
Develop an industry-standard assessment methodology.
Establish performance guidelines.
Update standards.
Identify and differentiate alloys.
iNEMI members supporting these recommendations include Agilent Technologies, Celestica, Cisco, Delphi Electronics & Safety, Flextronics International, Hewlett-Packard, Intel Corporation, Jabil Circuit, Motorola, Plexus Corp., Sanmina-SCI, Sun Microsystems and Texas Instruments.
ARLINGTON, VA – Worldwide revenue for consumer electronics will grow nearly 10% this year, hitting $700 billion by 2009, says a recent report from the Consumer Electronics Association and the GfK Group.
Consumers will spend $42 billion more on CE products in 2009 over 2008. Countries with fast-growing economies and large emerging middle classes, such as Brazil, Russia, India and China, will lead the way in new CE revenue growth, says the report. By 2009, China will account for nearly 15% of global CE revenue, trailing only North America (22% share) and Western Europe (16% share).
Consumers’ ongoing desire for mobility makes this the largest category worldwide in both unit sales and revenue. Collectively, sales of mobile products will surpass a staggering 1.5 billion units this year, says the report. Topping the list are portable navigation devices, with expected worldwide revenue growth of nearly 20%. Laptop computers (up 15%) and cellphones/smartphones (up 14%) will also see strong sales.
Global revenue for LCD TVs will grow nearly 28%, resulting in more than 100 million units sold worldwide. Flat-screen TV sales will account for nearly 20% of worldwide CE sales. DVD players have expected sales of 127 million units in 2008, while the forecast for video game console sales is 89 million units.
AUSTIN, TX-- Applied Nanotech Holdings, Inc. announced that its subsidiary, Applied Nanotech, Inc. (ANI), established a strategic development program with Optomec, Inc. to further develop copper inks for aerosol jet printing applications.
