The 10 biggest stories in 2006

1. Solectron to close plant in Scotland (October 30) Solectron announced that they close its Factory in Dunfermline, Scotland. The closure affected 440 workers. One week before, Solectron announced a large investment in Romania, adding some 800 employees. Read the story 2. Denmark sues EU commission for approving deca-BDE (January 23) The Danish government brought the European Commission into justice for approving the use of the flame retardant deca-BDE. Read the story 3. Nokia looking to replace Elcoteq (March 21) Nokia Corp. was looking to shift orders from EMS-provider Elcoteq SE in Asia, which gets around 2.4 Billion Euros worth of orders from Nokia each year. Read the story 4. Enics set target to be among the top five EMS-providers within Industrial (October 13) evertiq speaks to Mr. Reijo Itkonen, Enics, who said that the potential for the world wide industrial electronics is about 30 billion Euros and additional 15 - 16 billion Euros from other Enics addressable markets (Medical and Instrumentation). Only 20 per cent of this is currently being outsourced. "Today we are number eight in the world within the EMS-Industrial niche, and our target is to be among the top five", Mr. Itkonen said. Read the story 5. Flextronics laid off 380 in France (September 13) Nortel Network revealed its plans to transfer the production of GSM equipment from the Flextronics plant in Châteaudun to Sanmina-SCI in Mexico. Read the story 6. Celestica UK plans to axe 665 (October 12) 665 employees at Celestica, based in Priorslee, the UK, were told they would be made redundant. Read the story 7. Circatex files for bankruptcy (January 16) UK-based Printed Circuit Board maker Circatex went out of business as a result of losses of orders. Read the story 8. Tyco sells its entire PCB Division (August 3) Tyco International Ltd. announced that the company entered into a definitive agreement to sell the Tyco Printed Circuit Group business to TTM Technology Inc. Read the story 9. Panasonic in Austria on fire (June 13) A major fire broke out at Panasonic Electric Works Electronic Materials Europe in Enns, Austria. AT&S in Leoben Hinterberg, a major customer at the plant, was affected by the fire. Read the story 10. Major changes to follow Farnell's appointment of Harriet Green (November 27) During a breakfast meeting at Electronica, Premier Farnell's Chief Executive promised the audience that Premier Farnell will go through a couple of changes. Read the story We are looking forward to more ground breaking stories during 2007. Thank you all for this year and a Happy New 2007! Picture captured at the Electronix show in Gothenburg, Sweden in September 2006.