David Suraski, Executive VP, Assembly Materials Division, AIM

I'd have to say that the past year has been a mixed picture for Henkel Electronic Materials. While certain segments -- notably semiconductor packaging - have been significantly challenged with excess inventory and reduced demand, others sectors for Henkel have been quite strong. In particular, our business in the handheld and automotive markets has delivered very solid results.

And, even though there have been challenges and pressures from rising raw materials costs and other factors, Henkel Electronics did have a profitable 2011 and, equally importantly, laid the groundwork with new product development that will ensure our strong future

One of our key objectives is to break into new segments -- photovoltaics (solar), displays and high performance packages, for example -- of the electronics marketplace and I think we have made very good progress in that respect.

We have also had some well-publicized success with both silver sintering and silver plated copper technologies, which are true breakthroughs and both were launched with new die attach platforms this year.

Overall, Henkel Corporation has posted strong results in 2011, despite the challenging environment and I believe that speaks to the strength and visionary leadership of the company as a whole.

As for 2012, we expect the first quarter to continue to be tough, especially for semiconductor. Second quarter will likely also be challenging, but we anticipate improvement during the second half of 2012. With our product pipeline, though, and the developments we see in emerging markets, Henkel Electronics is projecting respectable growth rates in 2012 as compared to 2011.

Our objective is to diversify within the electronics marketplace so that we can continue to gain share and presence in new segments. And, even in segments where we have been historically strong, we are seeing expansion with new/different products. For example, Henkel has traditionally been quite well-entrenched in the handheld sector with solder paste and underfill materials.

Those strongholds continue, but we are broadening our scope and now providing multiple other material types to leading handheld manufacturers. And, we're seeing this same type of progress with other sectors such as display, photovoltaics and digital printing, as well. So, as I said before, Henkel has certainly laid the foundation for our long-term success.

Henkel's pipeline of product innovations is very full. This year we made significant debuts in the market with silver sintering and silver plated copper die attach materials, as well as new halogen-free solder pastes,thermal management materials and molding products.

In 2012, Henkel will commercialize even more materials for the display and photovoltaics segment, will announce a breakthrough wafer backside coating technology, launch the second generation of our conductive die attach films, and introduce several new electrically conductive adhesives and coating materials for a variety of applications. So, market challenges aside, Henkel plans to forge full steam ahead!