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SAN JOSE -- North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted a 90-day moving average of $1 billion in orders in April and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.80, signaling a likely slowdown ahead, according to SEMI.

A book-to-bill of 0.80 means that $80 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in April was $1 billion, up 1.5% above revised March figures of $988.4 million but down 37% year-on-year.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in April was $1.25 billion, down 1.6% from revised March levels and 10% from a year ago.

"A minor decrease in billings and a commensurate increase in bookings slightly raises the book-to-bill ratio," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "However, we are in a stasis period, where we have yet to see a significant change in business for North American-based providers of new semiconductor manufacturing equipment."

Oyster Bay, NY -- Annual global sales of "dual-mode" mobile phones -- which can connect to either a conventional cellular service or a Wi-Fi network -- are likely to exceed 100 million by 2010, according to a new study by ABI Research.

Dual-mode handsets have been virtually unknown to consumers until recently, and have not penetrated the enterprise space to any degree either.

But according to ABI Research senior analyst Philip Solis, some of the giants of global telecommunications -- notably British Telecom and Korea Telecom -- plan to offer dual-mode services by the end of 2005. That could start a very large ball rolling.

"The advantages of dual mode handsets and services, when they arrive, can be summed up in two words: seamless and economical," Solis said. Though the full spectrum of capabilities won't appear in the first generation of products, when these services are mature you will be able to start a phone call at home (connecting to residential Wi-Fi network and then broadband VOIP phone service), continue it in your car (switching to your cellular provider's network) and wind it up at work (phone switches to 802.11 LAN, and VoIP). The handset would sense the available signals and switch automatically from one network mode to another.

Breda, The Netherlands - Cobar BV, a supplier of fluxes, solder pastes and soldering materials to the electronics manufacturing industry, has been certified to the ISO/TS 16949 global automotive quality standard.

ISO/TS 16949 aligns existing American (QS-9000), German (VDA6.1), French (EAQF) and Italian (AVSQ) automotive quality systems standards within the global automotive industry, eliminating the need for multiple certifications to satisfy customer requirements.

With ISO 9001:2000, it specifies the quality system requirements for the design/development, production, installation and servicing of automotive related products.

Cobar BV was accredited to ISO 9001 in 1994 and to ISO 14001 in 1997, and is also accredited to NATO's AQAP-110.

Mansfield and Austin, TX - Mouser Electronics, an electronics catalog distributor, will distribute Freescale Semiconductor products worldwide through its print and online product catalogs.

Mouser's inventory of Freescale products includes the 8-/16-/32-bit microcontrollers, including the 16-bit 9S12NE64 single-chip MCU with Ethernet connectivity; digital signal processors (DSPs) and digital signal controllers (DSCs); 32-bit microprocessors, including the PowerPC^® family; RF ICs, including Zigbee; analog ICs, pressure sensors and accelerometers; clock drivers; and development tools.

ARLINGTON, VA -- Down in January, up in February, down in March, up again last month: electronic component orders continued their 2005 seesaw ride, according to the monthly order index compiled by the Electronic Components, Assemblies & Materials Association (ECA).

"Anytime you see an uptick such as the one in April, it's a good sign," said Bob Willis, ECA president (ec-central.org). "So far, it's been a positive year, but we are still seeing fluctuations from month to month as a result of manufacturers' uncertainties about where the market is heading."

TORONTO - Adeptron Technologies, an integrator of electronics products, today reported March quarter revenue of $8.47 million, up 42% from 2004. The GAAP net loss narrowed to $460,000 vs. $1.1 million in 2004.

Sales improved "significantly" during the quarter, the company said, and current indications "are that this strength has continued into the second quarter."

Of the sales increase, $1.24 million came from the company's Ottawa operations acquired in the first quarter 2004.

For the quarter, gross margin increased to $930,000, from $100,000 a year ago. Selling, general and administrative costs were $1.14 million, down 13.6% from $1.32 million.

Sequentially, sales were slightly higher while the net loss was lower.

F. Michael Marti, president and CEO, said Adeptron "has made significant progress by reducing costs while maintaining revenue. Starting in the fourth quarter of 2004, we engaged in an aggressive and ongoing campaign to improve the cost structure. The cumulative effects of these cost reduction measures will be more evident in the second quarter and fully reflected by the third quarter."