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SPOKANE, WA -- EMS provider Key Tronic Corp. today announced fiscal third quarter revenue of $49.7 million, up 33% from last year.

For the quarter ended April 2, the company reported net income of $852,000, up 661% from last year and up 74% from the second quarter.

In a press release, Jack Oehlke, president and chief executive, credited growth to higher sales to existing customers for specialty printer accessories and components, and gaming technology.

The firm said it will add capacity in China and Mexico. "[We] plan to expand capacity in Mexico by buying the building adjacent to our existing facility in Juarez during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005," Oehlke said. "We also are investing in our worldwide printed circuit board operations to ensure compliance with new environmental regulations."

Key Tronic guided for fiscal fourth quarter revenue to increase five to 10% sequentially and earnings of $0.08 to $0.12 per share.

Key Tronic will host a conference call today to discuss its financial results at 2:00 PM Pacific (5:00 PM Eastern). A broadcast of the conference call will be available at www.keytronic.com under "Investor Relations" or by calling 800-218-0204 or +1 303-262-2211. A 48-hour replay will be available by calling 800-405-2236 or +1 303-590-3000 (Reservation No. 11027377). A replay will also be available on the Company's Web site.

About Key Tronic

SAN JOSE -- Flextronics International, the world's largest EMS company, said yesterday that profits climbed despite a drop in sales of 4%.

For the three months ended March 31, the firm reported revenue of $3.61 billion, down 4% from $3.77 billion last year. The company cited lower demand for handsets, saying handset sales fell $480 million in the fourth quarter from the prior period.

The quarterly profit rose to $74.2 million, from $16 million a year ago.

The analyst consensus was sales of $4 billion.

For the fiscal year, Flextronics recorded a profit of $339.9 million on sales of $15.91 billion.

Flextronics guided for sales of $3.7 billion to $3.9 billion for the July quarter.

For fiscal 2006, the company expects sales of $17 billion to $17.5 billion, which would be a record for EMS/ODM firms. Analysts forecast sales of $19 billion.

NEW YORK -- David R. Van Loan, president of test equipment maker Everett Charles Technologies, will move one rung higher, taking over as president of Dover Technologies. A successor at ECT has not yet been named.

Dover Technologies is a $1.5 billion subsidiary of Dover Corp. and the parent of ECT. Its companies include Universal Instruments Corp. and DEK.

Van Loan, who has been with ECT since 1981, will report to outgoing president and current chief executive John Pomeroy. That won't last long: Pomeroy will retire within the next year.

Van Loan will also take over the responsibilities of Gerhard Meese, executive vice president of Dover Technologies, who is retiring in the same time frame.

In a press statement Dover CEO Ron Hoffman said, "Dave has done an excellent job of building Everett Charles into the premier test interconnect equipment supplier to the circuit board and back end semiconductor markets. He has displayed great strategic vision in guiding his company and will bring his high energy level and proven track record of delivering outstanding operating results to his new role."

On April 19 Dover Corp. reported earnings of $100.3 million from continuing operations for the first quarter ended March 31, compared to $83.8 million last year, an increase of 20%. Net earnings were $98.1 million including $2.1 million of losses from discontinued operations, compared to $83.1 million. Sales were up 17% to a record $1.45 billion.

FRAMINGHAM, MA - Following a record quarter of worldwide shipments, the mobile phone market slowed slightly in the first quarter due to expected seasonality. According to IDC, worldwide mobile phone shipments totaled 174.3 million units in 1Q05, falling 12.6% from the fourth quarter but increasing 9.2% year over year.

Nokia maintained its no. 1 position with a 30.9% share despite enduring the largest sequential decrease in shipments. Motorola once again captured second place with further penetration into Europe and leadership in the Americas. Samsung, the only company among the leading vendors to post a sequential gain, locked up third place and regained its momentum to catch up with Motorola after experiencing declining shipments in 2004.

Holding in fourth place is LG Electronics, marking the company's third consecutive quarter of shipments greater than ten million. Sony Ericsson beat out Siemens for fifth place by just 100,000 units.

"Most vendors have increased their shipment levels from a year ago, showing that despite a slight downturn from the previous quarter, consumer demand is still strong and vendors are prepared to meet that demand with a broad selection of phones," said Ramon Llamas, research analyst for IDC's Mobility Group. "Vendors have been stretching the limits on what phones can do and what they are supposed to look like. Telephony is still at the core of the mobile phone, but now it can be wrapped with features to satisfy different consumer tastes. What were once considered high-end features are now standard on many low-cost phones as vendors battle to gain market share and consumer attention."

Vendor Highlights

Nokia - The Finnish company captured 30.9% of the market, resulting in year-on-year growth of 20.4%, but a sequential decline of 18.6%. Driving revenue and average selling price for the company was its line-up of high-end enterprise and multimedia phones. At the same time, Nokia sustained momentum in Europe and Asia, but lost ground in the Americas.
Motorola - Despite a sequential decline of 9.7%, Motorola closed out the first quarter of 2005 with 16.5% market share and year-on-year growth of 13.4%. The company announced 27 new models for the year including the SLVR and PEBL, variations of the popular RAZR V3. The company also renewed its effort to bring more enterprise devices to the market by investing in the Java+Linux platform for smartphones.
Samsung - The only company within the top five to post sequential growth (16.1%), Samsung captured 14.1% market share and year-on-year growth of 22.5%. By boosting shipments in the first quarter while other vendors decreased shipments after a busy fourth quarter, the Korean company was able to regain momentum to catch up with Motorola, shrinking the difference from ten million units last quarter to slightly more than four million units this quarter.
LG Electronics - Securing its spot as the number 4 vendor with 6.4% market share, LG saw year-on-year growth of 26.9% and a sequential decline of 20.1% from 4Q04. The company reported that more than half its shipments went to North America, the largest proportion of any other vendor in the top five.
Sony Ericsson - After a brief hiatus out of the top five, the 50-50 venture returned to wrest fifth place away from Siemens. The company captured 5.4% market share, declining 25.4% from the previous quarter but growing 6.8% from a year ago. The company released few new products to keep up with its maturing product line, but announced a lineup of high end and specialty phones to come out later in the year.

Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide Mobile Phone Shipments and Market share, 1Q 2005 (Preliminary)

Rank	Vendor	1Q 2005 Shipments	1Q 2005 Market share
1	Nokia	53,800,000	30.9%
2	Motorola	28,700,000	16.5%
3	Samsung	24,500,000	14.1%
4	LG Electronics	11,100,000	6.4%
5	Sony Ericsson	9,400,000	5.4%
	Others	46,800,000	26.9%
	Total	174,300,000	100.0%

Note: Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors.

Source: IDC, April 27, 2005

FRAMINGHAM, MA - The consumer semiconductor market will more than double between 2004 and 2009, expanding from just over $14 billion to almost $30 billion, a new IDC study predicts. The market will experience the fastest year-over-year growth rates through 2007.

Consumer semiconductor growth is fueled by increasing importance in existing and developing end-products in the "digital home" environment. Consumer semiconductors are the enablers of both the underlying technology and the consumer-facing features of the digital home.

"The consumer semiconductor market is one of the fastest growing and most challenging segments in the semiconductor industry," said IdaRose Sylvester, senior research analyst at IDC. "With opportunity comes significant technological, market and competitive challenges, and only the most strategically-focused semiconductors vendors are going to benefit substantially from this growth."

The consumer semiconductor landscape is on the verge of dramatic evolution. Some markets such as digital TV represent great growth and potential for new entrants, but other markets, such as DVD offer moderate expansion and exceptional challenges. Due to these forces, the market in 2009 will be dramatically different than it is today.

NEWARK, NY -- IEC Electronics, a publicly held EMS firm, today reported second quarter net income of $73,000 on sales of $4.7 million.

For the quarter ended April 1, sales dropped 36% year-on-year, due to a decline in orders from two major customers. Net income dropped from $124,000 last year.

In a press statement, chairman and CEO W. Barry Gilbert said, "The business has been restructured delivering solid gross profits and excellent inventory turns even though our sales reflect the previously reported loss of Motorola and Teradyne, which historically were a majority of the company's business."

IEC has cut $1.5 million annually from its overhead during the past six months, Gilbert added.

The company landed two new accounts that are eventually expected to be worth $6 million to $10 million annually in sales.

Another customer said it would cease its business with IEC in July and bring its work in-house.

The top five customers accounted for 71% of sales for the quarter, down five points from last year.

For the quarter, IEC took restructuring costs of $41,000.