CircuiTree - July 2008 - (Page 8)

Industry Review News cost structure for future IC manufacturing and applications. Intel, Samsung Electronics, and TSMC will cooperate with the semiconductor industry to help ensure that all the required components, infrastructure, and capability are developed and tested for a pilot line by the target date. IPC Releases April Industry Results annockburn, Ill. – IPC released the April findings from its monthly North American PCB Statistical Program, reporting that rigid PCB shipments were up 12.2 percent and bookings were up 5.6 percent over April 2007. Rigid PCB shipments were up 6.6 percent year-to-date, and bookings were up 12.9 percent. Compared to March 2008, rigid PCB shipments decreased 14.7 percent and rigid bookings decreased 19.3 percent in April 2008. The book-to-bill ratio for the North American PCB industry was above B parity at 1.01 in April 2008. April’s flexible circuit shipments were up 22.8 percent and bookings were down 4.8 percent from April 2007. Flexible circuit shipments year-to-date were up 5.0 percent and bookings were down 14.3 percent. Compared to March 2007, flexible circuit shipments were down 12.5 percent and flex bookings were down 16.8 percent. The North American flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio remained at 0.99. Hitachi Semiconductor Names Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials Supplier of the Year Singapore – Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials, CMP Technologies, and Nitta Haas Incorporated received Hitachi Semiconductor Singapore Pte. Ltd’s (HNS) 2008 Supplier Excellence Award; this is the second year Rohm and Haas was honored in the Direct Material (Seller) category. Award recipients are chosen based on quality, technology, cost, delivery, and service. IPCA and MMI to Co-Host electronicIndia 2008/IPCA Expo 2008 Bangalore – The Indian Printed Circuit Association (IPCA) joined with Messe München International (MMI) to co-host electronicIndia 2008/IPCA Expo 2008, to be held September 2 to 5, 2008, in Bangalore. electronicIndia 2008/IPCA Expo 2008 will be attended by more than 100 PCB manufacturers and equipment/material suppliers from India and abroad. Net Sales Up for DDi Corp. Anaheim, Calif. – For Q1 FY, DDi Corp. reported net sales of USD 47.4, up 9 percent from Q1 FY 07 and 5 percent from Q4 FY 07. Gross margin as a percentage of net sales for Q1 FY 08 increased to 20.6 percent from Q1 FY 07 and also improved sequentially from 17.4 percent in Q4 FY 07. Mentor Announces 20th Annual PCB Technology Leadership Award Winners Wilsonville, Ore. – Mentor Graphics Corporation held its 20th annual PCB Technology Leadership Awards ceremony, recognizing engineers and CAD designers who use innovative methods and design IC Packaging Market Topped USD 30 Billion in 2007 San Jose, Calif. – According to Electronic Trend Publications (ETP), in 2007, there were 151 billion ICs produced, making the value of the worldwide IC packaging market USD 30.5 billion. ETP predicts modest growth to continue in 2008 and 2009 before accelerating in 2010. ETP also reported that nearly 49 billion ICs were assembled by contract packaging companies in 2007 for a value of USD 12.1 billion; the worldwide semiconductor industry will grow to 261 billion ICs in 2012; and the value of the IC packaging market will grow to USD 47 billion in 2012. Mania Technologie Files for Further Insolvencies Weilrod – In the framework of the restructuring of the Mania Group, its two 100 percent subsidiaries, Mania Deutschland GmbH and Mania Entwicklungsgesell- schaft GmbH, also filed for insolvency. Arno Wolf, lawyer in Kronberg im Taunus, was appointed preliminary administrator, and insolvency was filed to protect the assets of these companies. Both subsidiaries only play a supporting role in the operative daily business, and their necessary continuing support for the total group has been secured by the filing for insolvency. The restructuring process in the insolvency proceedings continues. Intel, Samsung Electronics, and TSMC Reach Agreement for 450 mm Wafer Manufacturing Transition Santa Clara, Calif. – Intel Corporation, Samsung Electronics, and TSMC reached an agreement on the need for industrywide collaboration to target a transition to larger, 450 mm-sized wafers starting in 2012. This transition would enable the continued growth of the semiconductor industry and help maintain a reasonable For a list of positions available, check in at NDS Associates Web Site 8 July 2008 • circuitree.com http://www.ndsassoc.com http://www.ndsassoc.com http://circuitree.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CircuiTree - July 2008

CircuiTree - July 2008 Contents My Line Industry Review Tech Talk Flexible Thinking Toward a PCB Production Floor Metric for Go/No Go Testing of Lossy High-Speed Transmission Lines Intelligent Design 20-Year Retrospective Ask the Flexperts Environmentally Speaking BPA Growth Curves Considering Design Variants to Maximize Process Efficiency Market Outlook Technical Product Spotlights Classified Ads Upcoming Events Ad Index

CircuiTree - July 2008

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