Printed Circuit Design & Fab Online Magazine - Fab News

Fab News

KUSHAN, CHINA - Flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) maker Career Technology has said demand in the second quarter looks weaker than expected, but due to slow sales in the first quarter, the company is still expecting a 5% to 10% sequential sales growth.

After seeing a first-quarter seasonal sales decline by 23.5%, the company indicated that it expects a slow recovery in the second quarter, estimating that April sales would be flat on month, with an increase in orders in May. The company has guided a conservative quarterly sales growth of 5-10% for the second quarter.

The company reports that it is still optimistic about an upturn in orders in the second half of the year, with new handset customers expected to be major growth drivers in 2008.

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FUSHAN, CHINA - The Founder Group’s PCB department has announced that it has succeeded in the trial production of the Solid Via II and Via-On-Pad, verifying the reliability of the blind via filling process, layer-to-layer registration, and post-filling copper re-plating.

The company reports that it will soon begin volume production of the HDI process.

Concurrently, the company plans to expand the production capacity of its HDI plants in its Zhuhai and Hangzhou facilities to increase the percentage of the PCB business segment within the company. The company's PCB manufacturing segment increased 35% in 2007.

SINGAPORE, MALAYSIA - TrueLogic Company has announced the opening of their Asia-Pacific regional office in Singapore, and has appointed Tobin L. Alexander as director for the Asia-Pacific region. Alexander brings 25 years of manufacturing and IT sales and consulting experience across the Asia-Pacific region.

Alexander will be located in the new office, and will responsible for the company’s business development, sales and customer service in the region.

"This is a move we have been planning for some time. We’re…receiving quite a lot of interest and opportunities from companies based in the region, so we’re excited about the potential for growth in Asia across all of our client and industry sectors." said Matt Akin, president. "In order to do business in Asia, you need to be in Asia—and that’s why we’re here. We want to show our commitment to our clients and to the markets in the region."

FRANKFURT, GERMANY - According to industry reports, the German PCB market started the year on a good note, with orders increasing by 8% from December 2007 to January 2008, as reported by the ZVEI, the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturer’s Association.

According to an association spokesman, “With longer delivery times and a longer planning periods, we have seen an increase in orders. Compared to December 2007, we see an 50% increase in order inflow.”

The German Book-to-Bill-Ratio reached 1.07. Ratios higher than 1.0 indicate a trend toward increased sales. Companies have also increased their staffing by 1%.