Printed Circuit Design & Fab - August 2008 - (Page 6)

MarkEt watch SEMiS droP by half Trends in the U.S. electronics equipment market (shipments only). Mar. Computers/electronics products Computers Storage devices Other peripheral equipment Nondefense communications equipment Defense communications equipment A/V equipment Semiconductors Components1 Nondefense search and navigation equipment Defense search and navigation equipment Medical, measurement and control rRevised. 1Includes Q1 Global PC Shipments Up 12% YoY El SEGundo, ca – Worldwide PC shipments in the first quarter rose in accordance with normal seasonal patterns, increasing 12.1% over a year ago, according to iSuppli Corp (isuppli.com). Global PC unit shipments rose to 69.9 million units. Hewlett-Packard (hp.com), Dell (dell. com) and Acer (acer.com) retained the top-three rankings with no change from the previous quarter. During the last five years, first-quarter shipments have grown by an average of 12% year-over-year, the research firm says. % Change apr. r May* 5.9 -10.0 -2.4 7.3 -3.9 -8.8 15.5 35.3 1.4 -0.5 -0.7 9.4 -2.3 8.5 -5.8 -2.8 3.2 3.0 -5.8 -19.8 -1.7 3.5 10.9 -1.8 yTD 1.2 -4.5 9.4 5.8 -1.7 22.6 -11.1 -6.4 -0.6 3.3 4.8 11.1 -0.8 -4.2 1.7 2.7 1.1 4.4 -1.2 -5.5 1.0 0.8 2.2 -1.6 Execs Bullish on US Mfg waShinGton – Some 44% of North American companies intend to expand production in the US over the next three years, according to a survey released in June by the National Association of Manufacturers (nam. org), The Manufacturing Institute (manufacturinginstitute.co.uk), the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (cme-mec.ca) and Deloitte (deloitte.com). And 57% say they will become more globally competitive over the next five years across the supply chain from sales, marketing and customer service to engineering and information technology. The survey, Made in North America, reflects the views of 321 top-tier executives in a broad range of North American manufacturing companies of all sizes, 45% of which are based in the US. Those surveyed cited controlling labor costs, enacting favorable tax policies and assisting with the severe shortage of skilled manufacturing workers as the top three areas that policymakers should address to help improve their global competitiveness, added Emily DeRocco, NAM senior vice president. Nearly 80% of respondents identified tax cuts for manufacturers as the key factor promoting innovation and R&D Almost half (49%) say that NAFTA helped their business to become more competitive, while 10% say it has hurt their business. The remaining 41% claimed no effect. To download the survey, go to nam.org/ northamericansurvey. *Preliminary. semiconductors. Seasonally adjusted. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce Census Bureau, July 2, 2008 June PMI Above 50% tEMPE, aZ – The manufacturing sector expanded in June, says the Institute for Supply Management (ism.ws). June’s PMI was up 0.6 points, reaching 50.2%, while new orders dipped slightly to 49.6%. A PMI reading above 50% indicates the manufacturing economy is expanding. “The manufacturing sector showed a slight improvement in June, as the PMI registered above 50% after four months of decline. Manufacturer’s are experiencing higher prices for their inputs, while demand for their products is slowing,” said ISM spokesperson Norbert J. Ore. For the month, production increased 0.3 points to 51.5%, and inventories were up 3.2 points to 51.2%. Backlogs increased to 47.5%, up 1.5 points. Customer stock levels shot up eight points to 55%. FeB. PMI New orders Production Inventories Backlogs 48.3 49.1 50.7 45.4 45.0 Mar. 48.6 46.5 48.7 44.9 51.0 47.5 apr. 48.6 46.5 49.1 48.1 45.0 51.5 May 49.6 49.7 51.2 48.0 47.0 46.0 JUne 50.2 49.6 51.5 51.2 55.0 47.5 Customer inventories 49.0 Source: Institute for Supply Management, July 1, 2008 induStry MarkEt SnaPShot Book-to-bills of various components/equipment. Jan. Semiconductor equipment1 Semiconductors2 Rigid PCBs3 (North America) Flexible PCBs3 (North America) Computers/electronic products4 0.89 0.97 0.96 4.77 FeB. Mar. apr. 0.92 0.99 0.96 4.99 0.87 1.00 0.99 5.18 0.82r 3.82%r 1.01 0.99 5.16r May 0.79p 5.8%p 0.95 1.01 5.06p MEtalS indEx DaTe Gold1 Silver2 Copper3 Tin4 7/14/07 $664.5 $193.00 $3.33 $6.45 3/17/08 $969.25 $298.60 $3.91 $9.35 4/7/08 $929.00 $266.27 $3.96 $9.28 5/6/08 $880.00 $248.71 $3.93 $10.99 6/2/08 7/14/08 $888.25 $968.00 $246.52 $277.68 $3.62 $9.60 $3.85 $10.70 1.70% 1.34% 1.82% 12nd London Fix. 2Handy and Harman Silver (COMEX Silver). 3LME Cash Seller and Settlement for Copper. 4LME Cash Seller and Settlement for Tin Sources: 1SEMI, 2SIA (3-month moving average growth), 3IPC, 4Census Bureau, pPreliminary, rRevised 6 printEd circuit dEsign & faB AUGUST 2008 http://isuppli.com http://acer.com http://cme-mec.ca http://deloitte.com http://nam.org/northamericansurvey http://nam.org/northamericansurvey

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Printed Circuit Design & Fab - August 2008

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - July 2008 Contents Our Line Market Watch Around the World Happenings ROI Tip Jar Software Performance Interconnect Strategies Final Finish Forum Product Development Challenges in a Global Market Innovative Modeling Supports Co-Design of the Power Supply Chain, Part 2 Low-Loss Fluoropolymer Copper Clad Laminate Qualifying PCBs Outsourced in Asia Copper Plating and Microvia Fill for Advanced PCBs Off the Shelf Marketplace Ad Index BGA Bulletin

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - August 2008

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