In Silicon Valley, Hardware Is Hot Again @ Businessweek.

Since the mid-1990s Liam Casey, PCH International’s chief executive officer, has helped technology companies with the nastiest task in Silicon Valley: building hardware. It’s long been considered scut work—dirty, complicated, low-margin stuff, beneath the dignity of software companies. Far better to write a few brilliant algorithms and then rack up profits by selling them over and over. PCH specialized in helping gadget-makers outsource as much as possible, finding cheap overseas manufacturers, streamlining supply chains, and negotiating airfreight contracts.