Printed Circuit Design & Fab - August 2008 - (Page 8)

AROUND thE world IPC Concerned with Öko-Institut Proposed Chemical Bans BRUSSELS – Industry leaders addressed concerns with the Öko-Institut report on the proposed expansion of RoHS substance restrictions at an IPC workshop on June 18. Öko-Institut was contracted by the European Union to study the inclusion of additional hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment under the RoHS Directive. In its draft report, the Öko-Institut recommended the restriction of TBBPA, the flame retardant used to protect more than 80% of PCBs and found to be safe by a comprehensive eight-year long EU risk assessment. In addition to TBBPA, HBCDDs, several phthalate plasticizers and all organic compounds containing chlorine and bromine are included in the report as suggested future bans. “IPC is concerned that ÖkoInstitut’s recommendations are arbitrary and lack a sound scientific basis. Implemented, these recommendations will have a significant negative impact on our members,” explained Fern Abrams, IPC’s director of government relations and environmental policy. IPC is developing a supply chain white paper in response to the proposed restrictions. PCB Shipments Up for May, Bookings Down BANNOCKBURN, IL – The IPC (Asso- ciation Connecting Electronics Industries) announced May 2008 book-to-bill ratios for rigid PCB shipments was up 5.7%, while bookings for the month were down 4.1% versus May 2007. Rigid PCB shipments were up 6.4% and bookings up 9.4%, year-to-date. The bookto-bill ratio for the North American rigid PCB industry fell, however, to 0.95 for May. Flexible circuit shipments for May are down 3.5%, and bookings are down 5.0% compared to May 2007. Year-to-date, flexible circuit shipments are up 3.3%, and bookings are down 12.5%. The N.A. flexible circuit book-to-bill ratio is 1.01.The combined (rigid and flex) industry bookto-bill ratio for May 2008 fell to 0.96. “Rigid PCB shipments have outpaced bookings in the last two months, which drove down the bookto-bill ratio for the industry,” said IPC President Denny McGuirk. “Overall industry growth this year is still modest but steady.” EDA Slow Down SAN JOSE, CA – The EDA Consortium (EDAC) Market Statistics Service China Production Down LOS ALTOS, CA – China’s electronic equipment production is finally slowing down and taking the rest of the world with it. Citing the recent economic environment and spate of earthquakes as reasons, research firm Henderson Ventures said China’s short-term equipment production output will drop eight points to 13.5% this year, before rebounding slightly in 2009 and 2010. The appreciating currency, higher labor costs and tighter environmental policies will conspire to “subdue” expansion in the longer term, Henderson said, although growth rates will remain “attractive.” Worldwide equipment production is forecast to rise 6.4% this year, down from 9.1% last year. It will grow 7.5% in 2009, and 8.8% in 2010, the firm predicts. 8 (MSS) announced that EDA industry revenue for Q1 2008 was essentially flat, declining slightly by 1.2% compared to Q1 2007. Q1 2008 revenues were $1350.7 million compared to $1366.8 million in Q1 2007. The four-quarter moving average (Q2, Q3, Q4 2007 and Q1 2008) compared to the same quarters in the previous year showed 5.9% growth. “Weakness in the large EDA companies was partly offset by strength in startups, with resulting numbers that were slightly down year over year,” said Walden C. Rhines, EDAC chair and Mentor Graphics CEO and chairman. “Main areas of strength were in leading-edge technologies such as electronic system-level design, design for manufacturing, design for test, IC layout verification, IC/ASIC power analysis and RF/ mixed-signal design.” Employment was up 5.8%, to 27,329 professionals in Q1 2008 from 25,820 in Q1 2007. PCB and MCM revenue decreased 1.4% to $131.1 million. The fourquarter moving average growth rate was down 4.7%. CAE was up 2.7% to $535.4 million. The four-quarter moving average CAE growth rate was 10.6%. IC physical design and verification revenue decreased to $325 million in Q1 2008, down 9.1% compared to Q1 2007. The four-quarter moving average growth rate was up 6.7%. Semiconductor intellectual property (SIP) revenue was $271.4 million, a slight 1.7% increase over Q1 2007. The four-quarter moving average growth rate for SIP was also up slight at 1.2%. Services revenue was $87.8 million in Q1 2008, down 0.8% from Q1 2007. North America remains the largest region with sales of $565.1 million. Sales were down 8.2% compared to Q1 2007. The four-quarter moving average growth rate was down slightly by 0.8%. Western Europe revenue was up 13.5% to $268.7 million. The fourquarter moving average growth for Western Europe was 11.2%. Q1 2008 revenue from Japan increased 2.4% to $327.1 million, and the four-quarter moving average increase was 7.9% for Japan. In the rest-of-world, including Asia and India, sales decreased 2.5% to $189.8 million. The four-quarter moving average growth was still up 19.9%. printEd circuit dEsign & faB AUGUST 2008

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

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.