As I write this column in early October, global economic chaos prevails. Tear up the prior forecasts and start over!

Based upon the latest available monthly data (primarily through August), global electronic equipment growth was deteriorating in all regions (Chart 1) and recent reports indicate that consumer electronics sales (including PCs and mobile phones) softened far more in September and October. Global semiconductor shipments were still up 5.9 percent on a three-month basis in August, but most of the growth was in Southeast Asia (Chart 2). North America was down 7.3 percent and presumably deteriorated further into the autumn.

Regional PCB growth was also slowing in late summer (Chart 3) and presumably will also react negatively to this fall’s economic chill.

Enlarge this picture Chart 2

Although Custer Consulting Group’s global PCB shipment model (Chart 4) appeared to be well into its normal busy season recovery (based upon August numbers), total 2008 growth now will likely be quite muted. Chart 5 gives my colleague Ed Henderson’s world PCB growth forecast (2006 to 2009). It is calculated at constant 2007 currency rates (to remove the effect of U.S. dollar/foreign currency fluctuations). Henderson sees only 2.2 percent real growth in 2008 and 2.6 percent next year (all in Southeast Asia). I have to agree.

Until the current world financial crisis is brought under control, forecasts are absolutely uncertain and a very conservative outlook must prevail.

Here are some recent industry news items:

PCB Fabrication

Enlarge this picture Chart 3

India – PCB market size estimates:
•    India’s annual PCB demand is about USD 2 billion while its local production is USD 300 million. – IPCA; and
•    India’s top 20 PCB makers produced about USD 175 million of the USD 240 million produced in India in 2007, topped by AT&S’ output of about USD 45 million. – Dr. Hayao Nakahara

Anaren completed its acquisition of Unicircuit.

Artetch, Littlehampton, U.K., installed an ENIG line.

AT&S:
•    Began combining its HDI and SPP operations in Leoben-
Hinterberg, Austria;
•    Chose Cimnet Systems as its enterprise-wide engineering automation solution;
•    Moved its shares from the Frankfurt to the Vienna Stock Exchange; and
•    Developed a GPS/AGPS module for Hitachi High-Technologies Europe.

Aviv Capinor (Norway) changed its name back to Capinor.

Cipsa expanded its Tumkur, India, capacity to 500,000 m²/yr of two-sided and multilayer PCBs.

Circuit Technology Cent added a Dage x-ray system.

Enlarge this picture Chart 4

Corintech received AS9100 global aerospace certification.

Creation Technologies acquired Circuit Service and its Changzhou, China, subsidiary.

Elprinta switched to Isola’s IS400 material for its Belgian MLB production.

ELTOS added a chemical silver surface line from Höllmüller and Cookson, Orbotech AOI test and LDI systems, Barco photoplotter, ATG “Flying Probe” tester, two Pluritec drilling machines, and a Posalux milling machine.

Endicott Interconnect Technologies:
•    Added 150 full-time workers;
•    Received an innovation supplier award from Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems;
•    Promoted Jennifer de Souza to vice president, supply chain management; and
•    Appointed Felicia Williams vice president of human resources.

Eurocircuits moved its management and sales departments to Mechelen, Belgium.

Falcon PCB Group acquired MBM Flexible Circuits.

Flex-Ability (U.K.) appointed Graham Temple technical manager.

FTG Circuits joined Aerospace Industries Association.

Fuba:
•    Named Hubert Beyrle managing director for human resources and financing and Slim Sellami managing director for sales; and
•    Accepted resignation from managing director of Fuba Germany, Andreas Ebeling.
    Fuji Name Plate started volume production (1,500 m2/month) of heat suppression circuit boards with aluminum heat sinks.

HannStar Board will ship 2 to 2.5 million netbook PCBs in Q3 FY 08 (of total worldwide netbook demand of 4 million units) and 3 million units of 6 million total global demand in Q4 FY 08.

Hunter Technology Corporation and Hallmark Circuits formed a joint market campaign and hired Mike Kadlec as vice president, sales.

Enlarge this picture Chart 5

J-Three sold its 95 percent stake in Unicap Electronics to Samsung Electro-Mechanics for producing HDI PCBs for Samsung handsets.

Jet Master was sold by parent Karce to KFE Hong Kong for USD 3 million.

KK-Electronic received a PCB contract for Siemens wind turbines from Flextronics.

Lamitec-Dielektra laid off 27 percent of its staff from its newly acquired Grassau plant.

Merix received MIL-PRF-31032 military certification for its San Jose factory.

M-Wave chair and CEO, Joseph Turek, and divisional president, Robert Duke, formed M-Wave International LLC to acquire the operating assets of M-Wave, Inc., for USD 500,000 plus assumption of all operating liabilities.

Prism Electronics received a PCB order from Cambridge Micro Engineering for automated menu ordering system.

Sierra Midwest (Sierra Circuits) achieved ITAR registration.

SKM Leiterplatten filed for bankruptcy.

Stevenage Circuits installed Orbotech’s InStack and InCoupon software in Hertfordshire, U.K.

Sumitomo Bakelite, Vietnam, is automating its FPC production to improve yields and expand capacity.

Materials and Process Equipment

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Akrometrix named Nicolas Khoury president and CEO, Dr.

Qingying Hu director of R&D, and Michael Zhu director of sales, China.

Assembléon is significantly reducing its global workforce due to the current economic slowdown.

Asymtek moved to a new expanded Singapore location to meet increasing fluid dispensing equipment demand.

Christopher Associates retained Jasbir Bath as consulting engineer for its soldering materials.

DEK and Scanditron began laser cut stencil production cooperation for the Polish market.

Dow Chemical entered into a term loan agreement of up to USD 13 billion to partially finance its Rohm & Haas acquisition. It sees this deal closing in early 2009.

DuPont named Ellen Kullman CEO.

Elite Material delayed set up of its new mass lamination production line and suspended capacity expansion at its Zhongshan, China, plant due to weakening CCL demand.

Enthone (Cookson Electronics) acquired Ormecon from Emerald Technology Ventures.

Global Laminates opened an 8,000 ft2 service and distribution center in Elk Grove, Ill.

Hexion/Apollo Management received ruling from a Delaware judge that it must continue with USD 6.5 billion acquisition of Huntsman Corp.

Hitachi Chemical raised CCL prices by 10 to 25 percent in Japan.

Isola:
•    Filed for injunction in R.O.C. against TUC regarding patent No. 123529 entitled “Fillers for Improved Epoxy Laminates”;
•    Dueren achieved ISO 9001 - ISO/TS 16949 automotive
certification; and
•    Introduced proprietary square weave laminate products.

Juki Automation Systems moved to a 2X larger location in Nürnberg, Germany.

Kulicke & Soffa sold its wire business unit to W.C. Heraeus GmbH.

Mie (Multiline International Europa) introduced a complete line of mechanical measurement systems.

Mitsui Mining & Smelting is spending MYR 500 million to build a new manufacturing plant for thin copper foils in Malaysia with a monthly production capacity of 1,200 tons and is expected to be operational early 2010.

OK International appointed Eric Chen China sales director.

Ono Sokki sold its PCB exposure equipment business to Hitachi Via Mechanics.

Orbotech completed its USD 290 million acquisition of Photon Dynamics.

Park Electrochemical:
•    Appointed Patrick Crowley president of Nelco Products, Margaret (“Marty”) Kendrick president of Neltec and vice president of North American operations of Park Electrochemical, and Mark Esquivel vice president and general manager of Neltec;
•    Implemented a workforce reduction at Nelco Products, Fullerton, Calif.; and
•    Proposed closing its Mirebeau, France, digital electronic materials business unit.

PPT VISION completed its 12,500,000 share/USD 900,000 private offering.

Rehm USA moved from Norcross to Roswell, Ga.

Siemens formed Siemens Electronics Assembly, a wholly owned subsidiary of Siemens Drive Technologies.

Speedline received three SMT China Vision Awards at the Nepcon China.

Stablcor licensed Photochemie.

Taiyo Industries developed a new electroforming process for highly accurate 3D constructions on flexible substrates.

Teradyne acquired Eagle Test for USD 250 million.

Topoint is increasing its monthly drill bit output from 13 million units in 2007 to 17 million units by year-end 2008.

Tyco Electronics is closing its Berga, Spain, and Val de Reuil and Chapareillan, France, plants, resulting in 850 eliminated jobs.

Union Tool is increasing its monthly drill bit output from 31 million units in 2007 to 35 million units by the end of 2008.

Vishay:
•    Purchased a specialty capacitor product line from Kemet for USD 35.2 million; and
•    Raised its bid for International Rectifier by 8.4 percent to USD 1.7 billion, which was rejected by International Rectifier’s board.

Electronic Manufacturing Services and Related Assembly Activity

Global contract manufacturing revenue is expected to rise from USD 305.5 billion in 2007 to USD 432.3 billion in 2012. – iSuppli

Asia’s CEM market is expected to grow from USD 121.5 billion (45 percent of global EMS market) in 2006 to USD 281.8 billion (55.1 percent of global EMS market) in 2011. – In-Stat

EMS portions of defense, homeland security, and aerospace markets are expected to grow from USD 2.8 billion in 2006 to USD 4.4 billion by 2011. – Technology Forecasters

Asian television OEMs will outsource about 41 percent of LCD televisions to EMS providers in 2012, up from about 28 percent in 2007. – iSuppli.

AdoptSMT Group named Barry Clark managing director for AlternativeSMT U.K. Operations.

Amtran and LGD set up a joint venture in China for LCM production and LCD TV assembly.

AU Optronics and Qisda formed a TWD 200 million LCD-TV assembly joint venture.

Avalon Technologies formed Avalon Technologies & Services, an Arumbakkam, India, EMS company.

Carat Electronics added a second automated line with a capacity of 10 to 12,000 PCBs/hr.

Catalyst Manufacturing Services:
•    Achieved ISO 13485:2003 medical certification at Endicott, N.Y.;
•    Opened a 80,000 ft2 Tijuana, Mexico, facility with two SMT lines and 60,000 ft2 of manufacturing space; and
•    Purchased AOI and AXI inspection solutions from YESTech for Endicott, N.Y.; Morrisville, N.C.; and Tijuana, Mexico.

Cheng Uei Precision received Motorola ODM handset orders.

Chi Mei Optoelectronics and TPV Technology formed an LCD-TV assembly joint venture with facilities in Hubei and Sichuan Provinces, China.

Compal:
•    Communications appointed Stephen Chen president;
•    Cut its annual notebook shipment goal to 29 million units due to weak European and U.S. demand; and
•    Electronics received outsourcing contract from Toshiba for 1.5 million LCDs.

Creation Technologies acquired Circuit Service (Wheeling, Ill.) and its subsidiary, Changzhou CSI, Changzhou, China.

Dell will sell its factories and outsource production to cut costs.

Elcoteq:
•    Acquired Philips’ flat panel TV manufacturing operation in Juarez, Mexico; and
•    Terminated its sale of its St. Petersburg, Russia, LCD TV assembly plant to Flextronics.

Eltech added a Vitronics Soltec Delta 3 wave soldering system.

Enics AG cut 186 jobs in Vantaa, Finland.

Flextronics leased a 155,520 ft2 building in Morgan Hill, Calif., to manufacture solar panel parts.
   
Foxconn:
•    Filed suit against Molex regarding alleged business torts and anti-competitive behavior;
•    Purchased 120 sets of machinery and equipment from Sony Manufacturing Systems for USD 17.63 million;
•    Received outsourcing contract from Dot Hill for manufacturing, assembly, and test services;
•    Will move its Acer PC assembly plant from Czech Republic to Szekesfehervar, Hungary; and
•    Is expected to manufacture more than 10 percent of Asustek’s total notebook shipments in 2009.

Gigabyte Technology merged its motherboard and graphics card sales subsidiary, Gigabyte United, into the parent company.

HannStar closed its panel module assembly line in Kaohsiung Taiwan and cut 12 percent of its Taiwan-based work force.

HANZA’s Estonia cable facility received ISO/TS 16949 certification.
   
HTC expects to ship 600,000 to 700,000 Google phones in 2008.

Ibase began assembling casino gaming machines with shipments beginning December 2008.

Inovar named Tom Carlin President.

Jabil began building its Florida headquarters after Pinellas County and St. Petersburg officials approved a USD 34.4 million incentive package.

Janco Electronics received RoHS assembly certification from IPC.

Jurong Technologies:
•    Set up Microfab Holding Pte to provide mechanical contract manufacturing services for the semiconductor, industrial control system, and biotechnology industries; and
•    With SEMINDIA, formed an EMS and ODM joint venture, JSEMTECH, in India.

Kimball Electronics acquired Genesis Electronics Manufacturing.

Kitron (Norway) received a NOK 40 million weapon control system order from Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.

LACROIX Electronique SAS (EMS division of Lacroix Group) acquired Tharsys, a subsidiary of Sogeclair.

Morey Corporation began a 30,000 ft2 expansion at its Woodridge, Ill., headquarters.

Nam Tai Electronics appointed Chan Sze Chung (acting) CFO after former president and CFO John Farina left company.

NBS Design opened a 40,000 ft2 manufacturing facility in Santa Clara, Calif.

PartnerTech received a PCBA services contract for Snap-On’s auto emissions tester.

Pegatron received a 1.5 to 2 million unit notebook order from Toshiba.

Plexus:
•    Started construction on its new USD 18 million global headquarters in Neenah, Wis.;
•    Kelso received recognition in the Innovation and the Supply Chain categories at the 2008 U.K. Best Factory Awards;
•    Entered a lease agreement for 106,000 ft2 of manufacturing space in Hangzhou, China, with production beginning Q1 FY 09; and
•    Began manufacturing Kirby Lester pharmacy automation systems in Buffalo Grove, Ill.

Propartner (based in Høgås, Norway) filed for bankruptcy.

Rimaster started production in Louny, Czech Republic.

Salcomp:
•    Is centralizing its Finish activities in Salo and closing its Kemijärvi office by April 2009; and
•    CFO Antti Salminen is resigning.

Service Engineering added 12,000 ft2 to its Greenfield, Ind., facility.

SigmaTron cut staff at its Elk Grove Village plant to 150 and shifted jobs to Acuna, Mexico, and China.

Sparton received an NYSE non-compliance notification after its market CAP fell below USD 75 million over a 30 trading-day period.

Vaasa Componenta (Finland) filed for bankruptcy.

VirTex Assembly received a PCB contract from BPM Microsystems.

Winland Electronics named David Kuklinski director of sales.

Wipro opened a second manufacturing unit in Kotdwar, India, for servers, storage, notebooks, desktops, and allied IT electronics.