February 2008
COMMENT
As we move on into 2008, it seems to be Reed Business Information’s turn to cull whole layers of management within its organisation, including many of its most experienced editors, and some of the more junior ones. We reported last month on the departure of Mick Elliott from Electronics Weekly in the UK. News editor Alex Mayhew-Smith and features editor, Melanie Reynolds have now been added to that list. Maury Wright, editorial director of EDN worldwide has been laid off in the US, as has his colleague Mike Santarini. This all follows a 20% cut in CMP’s electronics staff last year. There are differences of course. The Reed Business Information print titles – all 135 of them - are up for sale, and the latest cuts are clearly seen as a way to get the ship into shape for that sale. But what will buyers of the electronics titles get for their money now that many decades of experience, knowledge and contacts within our industry have been binned in the quest for a short-term boost to the bottom line? Here’s what one expert observer feels about the changes: http://tinyurl.com/3b7end
United Business Media (UBM) restructures CMP Technology into four, market-focused businesses
UBM has announced it will restructure CMP Technology into four business groups. The former Electronics Group will become TechInsights and is led by CEO, Paul Miller. This group will include the leading brands of EE Times, Semiconductor Insights, TechOnline, Embedded Systems Conferences and Portelligent. Proforma revenues for the TechInsights group in 2007 were $61m. The other three new business groups are TechWeb, Everything Channel and Think Services.
Web: http://www.techinsights.com/ http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/
Alex Paultre becomes strategic editorial director at Advantage Business Media
Alex Paultre has become strategic editorial director at Advantage Business Media and editor-in-chief of ECN. He takes responsibility for editorial strategy for the publisher’s design group of titles comprising ECN, Wireless Design and Development and Medical Design Technology.
Reed buys Componex show (India)
Reed Exhibitions has bought Componex, an Indian event for electronics manufacturing from Electronics Today Magazine. Componex has been serving the electronics industry in India for nearly 15 years. The 2007 show took place in February this year, and claimed to attract over 20,000 visitors and 826 exhibitors from more than 25 countries. From 2008 the event will be branded as Componex/Nepcon, signifying the link with Reed Exhibitions’ global electronics portfolio including Nepcon Shanghai & Nepcon Shenzen, Globaltronics Singapore, and Nepcon UK. Componex/Nepcon will continue to address both the production equipment and components elements of the global market. Reed have also today signed a sponsorship deal with Mr S. Swarn, CEO & Editor in Chief of India’s Electronics Today. Under the agreement Electronics Today will continue its association with Componex by providing exclusive support and endorsement to Componex/Nepcon India. Componex/Nepcon 2008 will again take place in New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan exhibition centre from 20-22 February 2008 and will be organised by Reed Exhibitions’ wholly-owned business in Delhi.
Julien Happich leaves EPN
Editor Julien Happich has left EPN, Europe’s most established electronics title. He’s taking a year out to pursue other interests. No plans to replace him have yet been announced.
EDN launches web site for development kits
EDN, in partnership with EDN Europe and Electronics Weekly, has launched DEVmonkey, a website for design engineers looking for development kits and tools. Jon Titus will have a blog on the site and provide in-depth reviews and articles.
Lower Power Radio Association (LPRA) to hold Nice event
The LPRA Radio Solutions exhibition and conference will this year be held at the ETSI Headquarters in Sophie Antipolis, near Nice, France. The two-day event runs from May 29-30th and there will be an emphasis on European regulations for short-range radio devices and how to achieve compliance. There will also be presentations on the future of the license-exempt spectrum. Other topics will include RFID, intelligent transport systems, automatic meter reading, wireless medical devices, home automation, and cordless audio and radio microphones. Experts will be on hand to discuss trends in RF design and ultra-low-power RF IC design, automotive short-range radar, antenna design and processor extensions for software-defined radio.
Web: http://www.lpra.eu
Online grows at WEKA (Germany) but print still thrives too
An audit by IVW-Online suggests that WEKA’s elektroniknet.de grew its page impressions to 5.5 million, an increase of 8% in 2007 over 2006. This makes it 3.5 times more popular than its nearest competitor, the publisher tell us. The print titles are going strong too. Funkschau celebrates its 80th year in 2008 and WEKA titles, Elektronik, Markt & Technik and Design & Elektronik, were all in the top 4 when LA EFLA reported it’s research findings.
IIC-China expands to 7 events
IIC-China, mainland China’s largest system design exhibition, is set to expand from four events in 2008 to seven in 2009 to cater to the strong electronics industry in mainland China. IIC-China is increasing its frequency and geographic coverage – IIC-China 2009 will be held in spring and fall with a total of seven events across six major electronics hubs in mainland China. The two new locations will be Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi Province in West China; and Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province in Central China. IIC-China will continue to be held in Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai once a year, while the show takes place twice a year in Shenzhen.
Print subscribers up for Elektronik i Norden
Swedish media audit organisation Tidningsstatistik AB (ABS) has confirmed an increase in the print circulation of the Swedish language, pan-Nordic publication, Elektronik i Norden. Circulation was up from 25000 to 25600 copies per issue, an increase of 2.4%. Editor-in-chief, Gunnar Lilliesköld, said, “We’ve now grown our subscription base every year since the launch of the publication in 1992.”
Electronic Products claims continued growth in online and print
While major US publishers continue to make more lay-offs, Hearst’s Electronic Products is claiming that things have never been better. The publisher told us that 2007 was their 3rd consecutive year of growth in both print and online and that the number of editorial pages in Electronic Products is now 76 per issue, 32 more than their nearest rival, it said. A new web site is due soon with added multimedia content, more opportunities for reader interaction and, of course, more places in which ads can be sold.
EDA Tech Forum Journal changes publisher
EDA Tech Forum Journal, previously published by CMP with Mentor Graphics sponsorship, has moved from CMP to the RTC Group. Editor Paul Dempsey tells us that it will give him far more scope to broaden the magazine’s coverage areas and that he’ll now be able to look more at the embedded market and add new features over time.
Paul Dempsey moves to IET
Paul Dempsey, previously US correspondent for the UK’s New Electronics magazine has moved to become Washington correspondent on the IET’s new Engineering and Technology title. The IET is based in the UK but has readers throughout the world.
EE Times launches Teardown TV
EE Times has announced the launch of Teardown TV, a video-based extension of its Under The Hood series of product teardowns. Product teardowns provide direct insight into how other designers have met design challenges—or haven’t. Teardown TV episodes will be promoted through links throughout the EETimes network, including EETimes.com, Embedded.com, TechOnline.com, and all the DesignLine sites. The episodes are hosted by the editors and analysts of EE Times, Embedded Systems Design, TechOnline, Portelligent, and Semiconductor Insights. As future episodes are aired they will be collected into a library and archived on the EE Times website. Each episode will take the viewer through a detailed analysis of the product design including layout, major sub-assembly design and integration, and component selection. The teardowns also include a discussion of what design challenges arose and were overcome, how trade-offs were balanced and how effectively the overall design met its goals.
EE Times ACE awards finalists announced
The (long) list is up. Winners will be honored at the ACE Awards Gala on April 15, 2008 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, California. The ACE Awards are part of ESC Silicon Valley.
Sales team change at Aktuel Elektronik (Denmark)
Johnny Elmeskov has taken over responsibility for the sales department at Aktuel Elektronik. Fluent in several languages, Johnny is responsible for dealing with the publication’s growing international client base. On the web site it’s now possible to particpate in the Aktuel Elektronik editor’s blog, which relays short and sharp news and product-releases from all over the world after a quick translation into Danish. Any issue within the blog is open for debate between readers - but the main issue is to use this service for “quick and dirty” relatively unfiltered news-distribution within the Danish electronics industry. News may not necessarily be linked to printed matter in the weekly newspaper-version of Aktuel Elektronik.
JOBSLOT - Nikkei BP seeks sales executive
Nikkei Business Publications Europe is seeking an advertising sales executive for its Electronics and Mechanical group of products. The successful applicant will, after a period of training, be responsible for print, online and event revenues. Competitive basic, generous benefits package plus uncapped commission. London HQ with plenty of travel including Far East.
For more details contact Gabrielle Koonin koonin@nikkeibp.co.uk