SCHAUMBURG, IL – Sparton Corp. reported first-quarter fiscal 2011 net income of $4.1 million, up 193% year-over-year.

Net sales were $45.8 million, down 4.9% compared to the same period last year, reflecting lower sales from the EMS segment due in part to the full disengagement from Honeywell during the first half of fiscal 2010.

EMS segment sales for the quarter were $12.3 million, down 30% compared to the same fiscal 2010 quarter. Gross profit for the segment was $907,000, down 10.9% year-over-year.

The gross profit percentage on EMS sales increased to 7%, compared to 6% for the same period last year.

"Within our EMS segment, we saw improved performance as a result of our aggressive cost improvement program," said Sparton president and CEO Cary Wood. "Volume, combined with continued production efficiencies, will be the key to sustained profitability of our EMS business. While current manufacturing schedules for the second quarter reflect lesser demand from certain customers in this segment, we remain confident in our ability to recover this sales volume in future quarters based on overall segment backlog and recent new business development wins."

BILLINGSTAD, NORWAY -- Kitron swung to a third-quarter net profit of NOK 5.1 million ($864,250), up from a loss of NOK $661,000 a year ago.

TORONTO -- SMTC Corp. reported third-quarter net income rose 1,100% from a year ago to $2.6 million.

NEW YORK -- Electronics manufacturing services companies built inventory in the September quarter, the second straight period component stocks have risen.

SINGAPORE -- Surface Mount Technology Holdings' September quarter net loss widened 9.5% to HK$13.8 million ($1.78 million) as higher wages at its China factories took their toll.

PORTLAND, OR – Sunstone Circuits now offers prototype delivery within 24 hours of purchase on all four-layer boards ordered within its online quickturn service.

PCBexpress quickturn predefined capabilities are for up to 100 pieces per order.

The 24-hour lead-time comes with enhanced DFM rules. This service provides the ability to save the “tight-routing” elements for when prototypes become production-ready.

The previous standard lead time was three days.

SEOUL – A new iNEMI initiative will define ways to increase the effective supply of rare earth metals through coordinated research into alternative materials, recycling, restoring technical know-how and development of end-to-end supply chains.

Rare earth metals (REMs) are used in electronics and alloys for products for the automotive, military and consumer industries, among others.

REMs are comprised of 15 lanthanide metals plus yttrium and scandium. China is the source of 97% of the world’s supply, although India, Vietnam, Canada, Brazil, Australia and the US have supply as well. There are concerns that China’s mass consumption will limit their availability to other geographies.

A petition to gain international consensus regarding the critical issues of ensuring adequate supply and open access to REMs was sent to leaders of the G20 meeting in Seoul, says iNEMI. The letter is supported by industry trade associations from Canada, Germany, Korea and the US. Meanwhile, in the US, a number of pieces of legislation are working their way through Congress in an effort to increase the sources of US supply.

If interested in the initiative, contact Jim Arnold at jim.arnold@inemi.org.

ST. LOUIS -- Viasystems Group today reported third-quarter contract electronics assembly net sales were $50.4 million, up 15.4% sequentially and 40% from a year ago.

NEWARK, NY -- IEC Electronics reported September quarter net income of $1.6 million, up 78% from a year ago.

EL SEGUNDO, CA – Third-quarter global PC shipments were up 7% sequentially and 10.3% year-over-year to 88.1 million units, according to iSuppli Corp.

Shipments for all three major types of PCs – desktops, notebooks and entry-level servers – rose on both a sequential and a year-over-year basis in the third quarter.

Desktop PCs generated the strongest sequential growth, with shipments up 11% sequentially, reflecting relatively strong demand in the corporate sector.

In contrast, mobile PC shipments rose at more tepid 4% sequential growth rate, and up a more impressive 15% from a year earlier. Those rates, however, were down from 41% and 42% increases in the second and first quarters, respectively, due to consumer confidence issues, says the firm.

iSuppli predicts global PC shipments will continue to rise in the fourth quarter, with a mid-single-digit increase over fourth-quarter 2009 shipments.

TAIPEI – Taiwan's exports swelled 21.9% year-over-year to $24.2 billion in October on strong demand for electronics.

JASPER, IN – EMS firm Kimball International said its first-quarter 2011 profit dropped 74% year-over-year to $460,000.

Total sales increased 7% year-over-year to $294 million.

The firm’s electronics manufacturing business, however, recorded losses of $250,000, down 13% year-over-year, attributable to labor and employee cost increases. Sales for the segment totaled $177.9 million.

The company had total assets of $642 million at the end of the quarter.