36 The PCB Design Magazine • December 2014
PCB007
News Highlights
MFLEX Rebounds in Q4, Expects
Sustained Growth
"We had a strong fiscal fourth quarter with net
sales results at the high end of our guidance range,
gross margin exceeding our guidance range, and
a return to profitability, an important milestone
for the company. our net sales increased 32
percent sequentially, driven by new programs
that ramped across our customer base," says reza
Meshgin, Ceo.
AT&S Reports Improved Profitability
in 1H of 2014/15
In the first six months of the financial year 2014/15
(april 1–september 30, 2014) leading PCB manu-
facturer aT&s generated revenue of eur 302.1
million, which was in line with the high level of
revenue reported for the same period last year (H1
2013/14: eur 299.9 million).
Continental Named PACE Award
Finalists for BD-HDI PCB
Continental, a leading international automotive
supplier, has three product innovations advancing
as finalists in the 2015 automotive news Premier
automotive suppliers Contribution to excellence
(PaCe) award program.
SCHWEIZER Posts Strong
3Q14 Results
"our business results after the first nine months of
this fiscal year are really satisfying and come up to
our expectations. In the third quarter, successes in
our portfolio management already had an impor-
tant influence on the improved results compared
to the second quarter," says Dr. M. schweizer,
Ceo schweizer electronic ag.
Aspocomp Reports Positive 2014
Amid Q3 Sales Drop
Deliveries slowed down significantly in July–sep-
tember, and third-quarter net sales amounted to
eur 4.9 million, a year-on-year decrease of eur
0.3 million. sales decreased mainly because tele-
communication customers had placed over-large
orders at the beginning of the year.
Viasystems' Faces Challenging
Third Quarter
"regarding viasystems' operating activities in the
third quarter, we had to overcome several chal-
lenges, including a temporary work stoppage by
employees in our largest factory in China, a sud-
den downturn of demand for products assembled
in our Juarez, Mexico factory, and a temporary dis-
ruption in the supply chain for certain raw mate-
rials used to produce our printed circuit boards,"
says David M. sindelar, Ceo.
Dragon Circuits' Drone Division
Experiments with Deliveries
The company announces the successful comple-
tion of 14 autonomous and semi-autonomous de-
livery test runs with payloads ranging from a few
ounces to a few pounds. With the recent interest in
drone-based delivery by internet giants like ama-
zon and google, Dragon Circuits looks to capitalize
on a forthcoming demand with the expansion of
their drone department.
TTM Reports Sequential Increase
in Q3 Revenue
net sales for the third quarter of 2014 were $345.3
million compared to $297.6 million in the second
quarter of 2014 and $338.7 million in the third
quarter of 2013.
Q3 PCB/EMS Market Snapshot
I-Connect007's latest market survey—a one-min-
ute survey designed to provide a snapshot of the
current state of the PCB and eMs industries—offers
a good sampling to give us a snapshot of where
we've been and where we're headed.
IPC: N.A. September PCB Orders
Strengthened
"The north american PCB industry's solid sales
and order growth over the previous month re-
flects normal seasonal patterns," said sharon starr,
IPC's director of market research. "Despite strong
order growth in september, orders continued to
lag shipments by a small margin, pushing the PCB
book-to-bill ratio just below parity."
36 The PCB Design Magazine • December 2014
