Fab News

MIGDAL HAEMEK, IsraelCamtek Ltd. announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2007. Revenues for the first quarter of 2007 were $14.5 million, 41.8% below the $24.9 million as reported in the first quarter of last year, and 31% below the $21 million as reported in the fourth quarter of 2006.
 
According to a news release, gross profit for the first quarter of 2007 was $6 million, representing a gross margin of 41.5%. This is compared with gross profit of $13.1 million or gross margin of 52.5%, as reported in the first quarter of last year and gross profit of $9.3 million, or gross margin of 44.5% as reported in the fourth quarter of 2006.
 
Operating loss for the first quarter of 2007 was $4.4 million compared with the operating loss of $2.4 million reported in the previous quarter. In the first quarter of 2006 the company reported an operating profit of $4.4 million.
 
First quarter net loss was $4.3 million on a fully diluted basis. This compares with a net profit of $4.4 million on a fully diluted basis, as reported in the first quarter of 2006. Fourth quarter 2006 net loss was $2.2 million.
 
“The current state of business in the microelectronics industry has been affecting our revenues from these markets,” said Rafi Amit, Camtek’s CEO. “We still see some requests from customers to delay delivery, but we believe that we are maintaining our position in these markets. In addition, as we stated in our previous announcement, our sales to the PCB industry also declined this quarter. We believe that this is a temporary softening in the market due to the Chinese holidays.”
 
“Regarding the PCB market, we are happy to report a warm welcome for the new line of Dragon models, which we recently introduced. We recently won orders from new strategic customers and further established our technological reputation and competitive position. Nevertheless, we continue to closely monitor our expense levels and we are adjusting them to our current and expected level of activity,” Amit said.
 
MILPITAS, CASolectron Corp. announced the expansion of Solectron’s Shanghai, China product development facility. According to a news release, the facility will provide complete product development services, supporting growing customer demand for fast, cost-effective product development capabilities.

The expanded site will focus on product development services for OEMs of telecommunication, computing, storage and consumer electronics products. By locating product development and manufacturing in close proximity, Solectron will provide customers with system level design, new product introduction and full volume production capabilities throughout China.


“Solectron continues to invest in expanding its design and engineering capabilities globally by market segment, including medical, telecommunications, consumer electronics and other sectors," said Dave Purvis, executive vice president and chief technical officer at Solectron. "We are seeing tremendous demand for complete product development services in China, and our expansion in Shanghai will apply our extensive experience in providing full product development services to meet growing customer needs."


Solectron expects to hire more than 100 engineers to support the growth.

MIDSOMER NORTON, EnglandSun Chemical Circuits, a supplier of inks and resists to the PCB manufacturing industry, has expanded the technical sales team for its Circuits business in North America, China, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria following an increase in turnover during 2006.

Read more: Sun Chemical Expands Global Team
OAKMONT, PA Triangle Circuits Inc. (TCP), named Mark Francis as off shift manufacturing supervisor, according to a news release.
 
Francis joins TCP with over 26 years experience in printed circuit board fabrication, with expertise in the wet area processes of the manufacturing operations. Prior to joining TCP, he held senior positions in supervision and process engineering in the printed circuit board industry.
 
Francis will report to Don Burgman, TCP’s production manager. He will be responsible for all aspects of production, process control and ensuring safety/environmental compliance on the off shifts.


DENVERMacDermid Electronics Solutions’ direct plate system, Eclipse, has earned Mil-PFR-55110G approval through Defense Logistics Agency DSCC. Working with fabrication partner Universal Circuits and their strategic military OEM customers, MacDermid demonstrated Eclipse's reliability advantages compared to traditional electroless copper.
 

Eclipse is said to combine the latest innovations in metallizing through-holes and blind microvias with state-of-the-art horizontal processing. The Eclipse process incorporates advances in neutralization, conductive carbon dispersion, and copper preparation. According to MacDermid, the result is a direct plate process that can surpass electroless copper reliability with the added benefits of reduced cycle time, reduced equipment footprint, reduced labor costs, simplified process control and improved operator's conditions. Eclipse also eliminates formaldehyde, heavy metals and chelation.

 

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