MELVILLE, NY -- Park Electrochemical's high-performance materials are making up an increasing percentage of the company's laminate sales, a trend company executives believe will continue. High-performance (non FR-4) laminate comprised 88% of the business unit's sales in the most recent quarter, up two points from the previous quarter and six points from last year.

Analysts pegged the company's laminate sales at about $32.5 million for the period ended Sept. 1.

On a conference call with analysts this week, chief executive Brian Shore said, "We've lost market share in the low end for years now to the point where it is very little left in terms of low end."

The non-high performance, basically conventional FR-4 material, is now 12% and falling, he added. "We really don't get any new non-high performance business and I don't think we have for a long time. We're just not really attractive for non-high performance areas."

Shore said the company saw some weakness in orders in August and September, but said any geographic patterns would be "hard to identify."

Shore added that Park needs to understand what 3-D printing might mean and how the firm might take advantage. "A lot of technologies -- those kind of technologies which are bleeding-edge -- we're trying to figure out what it means and whether they're going to really take off. And if they do, how it might impact us and how we might be able to take advantage of it," he said.

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