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Global semiconductor revenue, hit by the economic downturn, is expected to fall 24 percent to $194.5 billion in 2009, according to research firm Gartner, in a marked worsening from its December outlook. In mid-December Gartner forecast a 16 percent fall in the 2009 chip market. Gartner forecast the market could fall at least 17 percent in the first quarter, but said the drop could be much deeper. "We believe that the financial crisis has reset the semiconductor market," Bryan Lewis, research vice president at Gartner, said in a statement on Wednesday. "After the 2001 recession, in which semiconductor sales plummeted by a record 32.5 percent, semiconductor sales took about four years to get back to 2000 levels." Gartner forecast the semiconductor industry would bounce back starting next year, but reach its 2008 level only in 2013. Consumer demand for electronics, from computers to digital cameras, is drying up quickly amid the financial crisis and the prospect of a lingering global recession. Chip makers from giants such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to contract manufacturers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co all expect weak sales in coming quarters. (Reporting by Tarmo Virki; Editing by Dan Lalor) |
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