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* Gemplus Posts Record Revenue, But expects A Slowdown: Gemplus International SA, brought in a record $1.2 billion euros (US$1.1 billion) in 2000, an increase of 57% from the year before, thanks to soaring sales of subscriber identity module smart cards for mobile phones. But company officials expect revenue growth to slow to 30% to 32% in 2001, citing projected weaker sales of mobile phones and a possible downturn in the U.S. economy. "New subscriber growth is slowing down in Europe because of saturation; it will slow down, at least in the first quarter, in the United States because of the economic slowdown," says Antonio Perez, Gemplus' president and CEO. He projects the company's sales of SIMs, which nearly doubled in 2000, to drop to a 45% to 50% annual rate of increase. The Gemenos, France-based company, the largest shipper of smart cards worldwide, however, expects last year's pace of growth of shipments of SIMs to Asia to continue, especially in China; and to greatly expand in Latin America, where more countries are adopting the GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) standard. Gemplus executives also say the company has sewn up …