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BANNOCKBURN, IL – Rigid PCB shipments from North American fabricators fell 7.1% and bookings dropped 1.8% year-over-year in July, IPC reported Wednesday.

ARLINGTON, VA — Electronic component orders rose in July, boosted by a late rush in June that carried over into the next month, according to the latest monthly average compiled by the Electronic Components, Assemblies & Materials Association.

The 12-month average remained relatively flat, the trade group said.

Orders began picking up momentum in the last weeks of June and continued throughout July, maintaining a pattern of summer acceleration seen in past years.

In a statement, ECA president Bob Willis said, “It looks as if we are on the way to the third straight year of order growth."

EL SEGUNDO, CA – Booming sales of digital televisions during the coming years will yield huge opportunities for semiconductor suppliers, with revenue from shipments of chips for this segment expected to double between 2006 to 2011, iSuppli Corp. predicts.

The global digital TV semiconductor market revenue will rise to $14.2 billion in 2011, expanding from $7.1 billion in 2006, says the research firm.

“Global DTV shipments will rise to 230 million units by 2011, nearly three times the 77.4 million in 2006,” says Shyam Nagrani, principal analyst for display electronics at iSuppli.

Part of the reason for these gains is that beyond consumer preferences for inherently digital flat-panel TVs, there are a series of upcoming government-mandated transitions from analog to digital television—starting with the U.S. On Feb. 17, 2009, all U.S. analog broadcasts will be turned off. Europe, Japan, Korea and other nations have their own looming dates for the analog cut off and transition to DTV sets, with most countries converting to fully digital transmissions by 2015, iSuppli explains.

Also, the two main components of DTVs—glass and semiconductors—are experiencing rapid price decreases.

LCD panel prices have declined by more than 35% during each of the past two years, according to iSuppli. Price declines will not be so substantial in the years to come, but they have brought the price of flat-panel DTVs into an affordable range for a large number of consumers, the company adds. The fall in semiconductor prices is a result of greater chip integration and economies of scale resulting from the rapidly growing volumes.

In addition, the DVD player market will grow to more than 37 million units in 2011, up from 100,000 units in 2006. Camcorders are quickly moving to 100% HD penetration. Digital still cameras also will move to HD, although their HD penetration rate will not rise as quickly as for camcorders, says the firm.

iSuppli concludes that all these factors are causing a snowball effect on the DTV set and DTV chip markets, making them some of the most promising segments of the consumer electronics markets for the foreseeable future. For semiconductor suppliers, the next few years will be a period of rapidly rising sales—and opportunity—in the DTV market.

FRAMINGHAM, MA – Handset vendors shipped a total of 272.7 million units worldwide in the second quarter, about 6.9% more than the previous quarter, and 16.5% more year-over-year, according to researcher IDC.

Samsung beat Motorola for the number two spot in global market share, with 37.4 million units shipped, added the firm.

Following a slow first quarter, Motorola announced a dismal performance in handset shipments. On the other hand, Samsung announced its fourth straight quarter of record shipments.

Motorola was the only vendor to post a year-over-year decrease among the leading vendors, slipping to third place, citing ongoing shipment challenges in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and to a lesser extent, Europe, said IDC. On the positive side, the company crossed a milestone having shipped its 100 millionth Razr phone.

Number one Nokia’s total shipments equaled more than those of the next three vendors combined (100.8 million units), said IDC. Much of Nokia's growth was attributed to its shipment growth within Europe and Asia, but still showed some signs of struggle in North America. At the same time, Nokia enjoyed a record shipment of 13.9 million units shipped in the region, thanks in part to its N-series and E-series devices.

Sony Ericsson remained the clear number four vendor, and took honors for having the largest year-over-year shipment increase among the leading vendors. Sony Ericsson's Walkman line of phones accounted for a third of its shipments, said IDC. The company also announced the W960 and W910, both expected to ship later this year.

In addition, Sony Ericsson announced plans to establish its own R & D site in Chennai, India, a move that will no doubt aid its manufacturing agreements with partners Flextronics and Foxconn, said the research firm.

LG Electronics, having reached a record shipment level, remained firmly in fifth place, and despite its improvements, closed the gap with Sony Ericsson only slightly, according to IDC.