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

MARKET WATCH Report: Auto Electronics Slowing LOS ALTOS, CA – Softening demand for vehicles will slow % CHANGE NOV.r DEC.* -0.1 0.5 1.8 -5.4 3.4 12.6 5.0 -0.7 -0.9 3.9 0.7 -3.3 -0.6 2.3 -7.5 12.1 4.4 -13.5 4.7 -8.8 1.0 -8.6 4.0 -1.4 PERIPHERAL PUSH Trends in the U.S. electronics equipment market (shipments only). OCT. 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 YTD 1.1 -0.8 -9.2 3.1 -0.2 1.7 -0.7 -3.7 2.7 24.4 3.0 4.7 2.2 -6.2 5.1 -1.1 -8.0 -2.7 14.4 18.3 -2.4 8.1 -1.5 4.8 automotive electronics growth from 8.1% in 2007 to 5.6% in 2008, Henderson Ventures (hendersonventures. com) reports. The pace will then accelerate to 7.9% in 2009 and 10.5% in 2010, when global automotive electronics production is forecast to reach $140 billion. This year’s unit slowdown will be felt all over. For example, Chinese output growth will slow from 25.8% in 2007 to 15.5% this year. Plasma Market Picture Mixed EL SEGUNDO, CA – Worldwide sales of plasma displays are *Preliminary. semiconductors. Seasonally adjusted. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce Census Bureau, Feb. 4, 2008 expected to grow minimally through 2011, reaching $7.64 billion, virtually unchanged from $7.63 billion in 2006. However, shipments will double to 20.1 million by 2011, a CAGR of 14.9% from 2006, research firm iSuppli (isuppli.com) says. Third-quarter shipments of PDPs, used mainly in TVs, reached 3 million units worldwide, up 15% yearover-year. A balanced supply situation is likely to prevail in 2008 and beyond as PDP makers remain cautious about adding capacity, the research group claims. Higher Labor Costs, Higher Profits? New Year Brings Production Upturn TEMPE, AZ – The manufacturing sector gained momentum in January, as the PMI rose 2.3 points, signaling a stronger performance compared to the seasonally adjusted 48.4% recorded in December. This represents a return to the recent trend of slow growth in manufacturing, as the PMI has averaged 50.2% for the past six months. A reading above 50% indicates the manufacturing economy is generally expanding. A PMI above 41.1%, over time, generally indicates a growing economy. The January PMI correlates to a 3% annual hike in GDP. The production index rebounded 6.6 points during the month, while new orders declined slightly to 49.5%, noted Norbert J. Ore, a spokesperson for the Institute for Supply Management (ism.ws), which issued the report. Employment slipped 1.6 points, inventories were down, but pricing was up significantly. The Computer and Electronic Products category reported contraction during the month. SEPT. PMI New orders Production Inventories Customer inventories Backlogs 52.0 53.4 54.6 41.6 50.0 51.0 OCT. 50.9 52.5 49.6 47.2 54.0 46.0 NOV. 50.8 52.6 51.9 46.9 49.0 41.5 DEC. 48.4 46.9 48.6 45.4 51.5 43.0 JAN. 50.7 49.5 55.2 49.1 49.5 44.0 BEIJING – China’s recent labor laws might actually prove a boon to larger companies such as Foxconn (foxconn.com) and Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings (yueyuen.com), analysts say. Labor laws enacted in January could drive employers’ costs five to 40% higher, according to industry estimates, because the new laws now give employees severance pay and medical, retirement and housing benefits. Yet the laws could provide a long-term boost to large manufacturers because they already pay above-regulation wages and smaller competitors could have a tough time keeping up, an analyst for ABN Amro (abnamro.com) says. Many employers are also fearful about harsher regulations curbing overtime. The situation also concerns workers, as many took advantage of lax enforcement to log about 80 hours a month in overtime. The Taiwan Merchant Association in Dongguan estimates the new laws have raised business costs for Taiwan firms 20 to 40%. Meanwhile, dozens of factories in Southern China will close or move operations to lowercost regions such as Vietnam, according to local media reports and labor organizations. INDUSTRY MARKET SNAPSHOT Book-to-bills of various components/equipment. AUG. SEPT. OCT. NOV. Semiconductor equipment1 Semiconductors2 Rigid PCBs3 (North America) Flexible PCBs3 (North America) Computers/electronic products4 0.82 0.79 0.80 0.82r DEC. 0.89p 2.73% 4.39% 4.58% 4.39%r 3.27%p 1.06 1.07 4.94 1.08 1.08 4.90 1.08 1.10 4.98 1.06 1.02 4.97r 1.01 1.00 4.96p Source: Institute for Supply Management, Feb. 1, 2008 Sources: 1SEMI, 2SIA (3-month moving average growth), 3IPC, 4Census Bureau, pPreliminary, rRevised 6 PRINTED CIRCUIT DESIGN & FAB MARCH 2008 http://www.isuppli.com http://www.foxconn.com http://www.yueyuen.com http://www.abnamro.com

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

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - March 2008 Contents Our Line Market Watch Around the World Happenings ROI EMC for the Real World Positive Plating FPGA/PCB Co-design Increases Fabrication Yields Optoelectronics Comes of Age, Part 2 Implementation of Buried Capacitance in High-Speed Designs Ad Index Improved Innerlayer Bonding for Sequential Lamination Off the Shelf Marketplace BGA Bulletin

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - March 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.