Revenue earned by the global semiconductor industry will contract by 2% this year compared to last year, according to iSuppli Corp., a sharp change from a similar forecast made just two months ago.
For 2008, total chip revenue is projected to reach $266.6 billion, down 2% from last year’s $272 billion, the market analysis firm said Wednesday. Wireless chips account for about 19% of the global total.
The new forecast differs sharply from iSuppli’s in September, when it predicted 3.5% growth.
The magnitude of the change in such a short period underscores the speed with which consumer confidence and spending has eroded since the financial sector meltdown in September.
Nokia Corp., with nearly 40% of the global handset market, had also issued an optimistic outlook in mid-October, only to amend that earlier this week with a more pessimistic forecast. Nokia and its rivals are the largest buyers of wireless chips for mobile handsets.
Global semiconductor industry contracting
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