Carlsbad Company Is Domestic Supplier
For Kyocera America
In a move being duplicated in many other regions around the world, Pegaso, a Mexican telecommunications carrier, said it is buying another $200 million in wireless network equipment from the Ericsson CDMA Systems unit. Yes, the same Ericsson that’s headquartered in Stockholm, but its CDMA unit is in San Diego. The growing use of cell phones and incorporation of online data for those phones and other wireless devices is having an enormous impact locally. Citing increased sales in Mexico, Europe and Asia, the San Diego Ericsson unit plans to increase its staff by about 400 persons by the end of this year. Right now, the unit has about 1,400 employees, most of whom are former Qualcomm Inc. workers and work in its Sorrento Mesa offices. It has about 200 staffers in Boulder, Colo. “We know that’s aggressive, but that’s our plan,” said Wendy Fulk, Ericsson vice president of marketing and communications about the hiring target. As are other high-tech firms and wireless manufacturers, Ericsson is looking for engineers, both hardware and software. It is also seeking sales and marketing, production and support personnel. Ericsson’s contract with Pegaso involves supplying all the equipment needed for expanding Pegaso’s coverage in its core network area in Mexico City, Tijuana, Monterrey and uadalajara.
Pegaso, a telecommunications joint venture that includes such partners as Leap Wireless, a Qualcomm spinoff, Citicorp, and Sprint PCS, has attracted more than $1.3 billion in capital.
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Asymtek Wins Kyocera Deal: Asymtek, a Carlsbad subsidiary of Nordson Corp., a Nasdaq-traded firm headquartered in Ohio, said it recently became the domestic supplier for Kyocera America, the San Diego-based subsidiary of Japan-based Kyocera Corp. The contract for new equipment was announced in the wake of Kyocera America adding a 6,600-square-foot plant to house a new “flip chip assembly operation.” Kyocera America, which makes the packages or casings for computer chips, is purchasing a variety of dispensing equipment used in that manufacturing process from Asymtek. “We will be supplying them with three different dispensing systems,” said spokeswoman Roberta Foster-Smith, adding the total contract is worth in excess of $500,000. Kyocera selected Asymtek after the company considered such competitors as Hewlett-Packard, Motorola and AMD, Asymtek said in a press statement. Asymtek, which makes equipment used in the manufacture and production of printed circuit boards and semiconductor packaging, did about $50 million in sales last year, contributing to Nordson’s more than $700 million in revenues for 1999. More than half of Asymtek’s sales came from overseas customers. Among the largest of its customers are Intel, Motorola, Nokia, and Ericsson. Employment at the company is at about 300, or about 40 more than last year.
SkyDesk Inks U.K. Deal: SkyDesk, a provider of Internet storage security systems, said it is providing its @Backup services to subscribers of Peachtree Software, a leading provider of business and accounting software and a subsidiary of London-based The Sage Group Plc. With the contract, SkyDesk will have access to Peachtree’s 1.2 million customers, said Peachtree spokeswoman Kate Blom. Blom said Peachtree doesn’t release sales figures but Sage had 1999 sales of more than $15 billion and is regarded as the world’s largest provider of PC financial software. SkyDesk’s data backup systems allow users to protect, store, and access their data at a secure site. The company pulled back a planned IPO of $75 million in June, citing unstable market conditions.
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Joint Venture Relocates To San Diego: Boston-based Scriptgen Pharmaceuticals and European Molecular Biology Laboratory, based in Heidelberg, announced a joint venture called Anadys Pharmaceuticals Inc., and moved its headquarters office to Sorrento Valley last month. Anadys (which is Greek for east to west) said it plans to capitalize on the full DNA sequence of the Human Genome Project and develop drugs for treating infectious diseases, a $19 billion market. The firm said it has received some $50 million in venture capital funding. Currently, there are nine staffers working at the San Diego office, but the company will retain its Boston office with about 60, and will open an office in Heidelberg that will have about 30. The company also plans to move to a 40,000-square-foot facility next to Torrey Pines State Reserve within the year.
ABA Gets City Money: The Asian Business Association received $40,000 in funding from San Diego’s economic development department recently. The money comes from hotel room taxes and was allocated for the organization’s support for the annual Chinese New Year’s celebration, and several other events.
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WTC Mixer At UPS: The San Diego World Trade Center is holding a behind-the-scenes mixer and tour of the local United Parcel Service facility at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 17 at 7925 Ronson Road. Please send any news on international commerce to mallen@sdbj.com.
