Printed Circuit Design & Fab Online Magazine - Fab News

Fab News

VIENNA – AT&S, Europe's largest PWB maker, reported first-quarter revenues rose 0.4% year-over-year, while margins fell.

The company reported sales of 115.2 million euros ($184 million) on seasonal weakness and less profitable product mix. Operating profit fell 27.5% to 5.6 million euros, while net income dropped 45% to 5 million euros.

Read more: AT&S Sees Q1 Margins Tighten

OWARIASAHI CITY, JAPAN -- Maruwa, a Japan-based PWB manufacturer, will reportedly double its manufacturing capacity of ceramic-based multilayer boards for automobile applications.

The company had sales of 20.6 million yen in its fiscal year ended March 31, about 7.2 million yen of which were for its ceramic-based substrates.

ANAHEIM – DDi Corp., a provider of PCB engineering and manufacturing services, today reported second-quarter net sales were $51.2 million, up 4% year-over-year and up 8% sequentially.

Net income was $1.5 million, down 25% compared to the same period last year, and up 52% sequentially.

On a year-to-date basis, net sales were $98.5 million, up 6% year-over-year, while net income was $2.2 million.

The increase in net sales was primarily driven by the growth in the military/aerospace market segment, the company said. During the quarter, the company’s position in the military/aerospace market segment rose to 18%.

PLYMOUTH, MN – PCB maker Innovex reported third-quarter revenue rose 22% to $16.2 million for the period ended June 28.

For the quarter, the company’s net loss was $4.5 million, an improvement on a loss of $9.2 million a year ago. The company took restructuring charges of $470,000 in the most recent quarter.

Read more: Innovex's Q3 Sales Rise 22%

TAIPEI, TAIWAN – Copper clad laminate (CCL) demand has in Taiwan has been weak over the past quarter. The manufactures of CCL have come to expect a seasonal increase that typically occurs in Q3. For Q3 2008 some CCL manufactures in Taiwan are expecting weak increases of 5% to 15% compared to Q2 sales (20% to 40% is typical).

There was a CCL price increase in May due to increased copper metal costs. Prices closed below $3.80/lb. yesterday, down from a 1-year high of $4.0819 on July 2, 2008. Despite a drop in copper prices over the past week, CCL prices are expected to remain at the May adjusted levels for some time.

Taiwan Union Technology (TUC) said July orders are slightly ahead of June, and projected that August sales would be flat compared to July. Iteq said its July sales are better than June, and forward looking August orders extend only though mid-month. Uniplus Electronics said PCB CCLdemand remains weak and expects sales for the Q3 to be lower than for previous years.

TAIPEI – According to a Taiwan news source, Apple is said to have increased its orders of printed circuit boards used in notebook computers by 20% for Q3 compared to Q2 2008. The PC maker is expected to revamp the aging MacBook design in time for Q4 sales.

Compeq Manufacturing, Gold Circuit Electronics, Nan Ya Printed Circuit Board and Tripod are the well known suppliers expected to see the bulk of these sales increases. The PCBs are HDI type, with higher complexity and correspondingly higher margins than standard PCBs.