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NEW YORK -- Signs of life are emerging among electronics producers, a leading research firm said, but end-user demand is lagging.

SAN JOSE -- The 90-day moving average sales of semiconductors worldwide fell 30.4% year-over-year in February, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported today. Sales declined 7.6% sequentially, the trade group said.

The three-month moving average of sales totaled $14.2 billion in February, SIA said.

“The global semiconductor industry is going through one of the steepest corrections in its history,” said SIA President George Scalise. “While it would be premature to conclude that the sales decline has hit bottom, there are some indications that the rate of decline has moderated from the final quarter of 2008."

Scalise credited the industry for its fast response to trim inventories as the market turned down. "The industry responded quickly to the changing market environment by curtailing production and reducing inventory as demand slowed in late 2008. The world’s two largest foundry manufacturers have recently reported slight improvements in factory utilization rates, albeit at levels well below those of a year ago,” Scalise said.

“Demand for semiconductors is likely to continue well below 2008 levels for the next few quarters, with a gradual recovery to follow as the global economy recover," he said.

BANNOCKBURN, IL and LAS VEGAS – IPC announced the winners of the Best U.S. and International Papers during IPC APEX EXPO. The event’s Technical Program Committee chose the winners through a ballot process.

BANNOCKBURN, IL and LAS VEGAS – IPC presented awards to Uyemura International Corp. and Phoenix International during the IPC Annual Meeting and Luncheon on March 31.

LAS VEGAS – The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative debuted its latest industry roadmap this week, highlighted by new chapters on photovoltaics, solid state illumination and RFID item-level tags.

The latest roadmap covers five product sectors and 20 technology and infrastructure areas, which include manufacturing, component/subsystem, design and business process technologies.

AUSTIN, TX — Despite what is looking to be a rather dismal year for the PC industry as a whole, mini-note PCs, or netbooks, are forecasted to grow at more than 65% year-over-year in 2009, while the traditional notebook PC market is forecast to grow 3%, according to DisplaySearch.