Although 2008 will be forgotten very quickly in the semiconductor industry, market research firm Gartner has resurrected its review of last year in a final tally of sales, showing the industry declined 5.4% compared to 2007. Worldwide semiconductor revenue totalled US$255 billion in 2008, a decrease of US$14.5 billion from 2007. However, the greater than expected decline could result in worse than currently projected sales for 2009 that are already projected to fall 33%, according to Gartner.
“While sales held up fairly well in the first half of 2008, in the third quarter the industry started to soften as the economy slowed, and by the fourth quarter sales were deteriorating quickly, causing revenue growth to go into negative territory,” said Peter Middleton, Principal Research Analyst at Gartner. “With the market heavily impacted by the recession, we can expect considerable market consolidation going forward.”