Worse than expected
Beancounters
working for market research outfit iSuppli have added up some numbers and
divided by their collective shoe sizes and decided that global semiconductor
and electronics-equipment sales this year are expected to decline more
sharply than expected.
While promising a bright future in the second half of
the year and in 2010, iSuppli said that worldwide semiconductor sales are
set to drop 23 percent in 2009 to $198.9 billion compared with a previous
forecast of a 21.5 percent decline. Sales of electronic equipment, for
cars, data processing, communications and consumer and industrial use, are
set to fall 9.8 percent this year to $1.38 trillion, steeper than the 7.6
percent drop predicted earlier. The slump in the car industry was the major
factor behind the downgrade for electronic equipment, iSuppli
said.
iSuppli is projecting the semiconductor industry will show improvements
beginning in the fourth quarter of 2009, which will provide the basis
for overall growth of 13.1 percent in 2010. Global electronic equipment
revenue is also expected to rise by 4.9 percent next year.