Semiconductor revenue to fall 22 pct in 2009: Gartner

Worldwide semiconductor revenue is expected to decline by 22 percent this year, market research firm Gartner said Thursday.

Gartner said worldwide semiconductor revenue was forecast to reach 198 billion dollars in 2009 compared with 255 billion dollars last year.

The outlook is slightly better than Gartner's first quarter projections, when it forecast semiconductor revenue to decline by 24.1 percent in 2009.

"First quarter PC shipments came in better than expected, which led to an improved outlook for microprocessors," said Gartner research vice president Bryan Lewis.

"But we believe most of this improvement was due to the fact that inventories had been run down too far, rather than true demand returning," Lewis said in a statement.

"We are expecting 4.9 percent growth in second quarter semiconductor sales based on recent semiconductor company guidance," he said.

"While this is positive news, the semiconductor industry is clearly not out of the woods, as there is minimal evidence that demand is returning, except in China."

(c) 2009 AFP