iSuppli sees a ‘better 2010’

"The decline of worldwide automobile sales, particularly in North America, has had a major impact on overall electronic equipment shipments," said Dale Ford, senior vice president, market intelligence services, for iSuppli. The company has also revised downward its predictions for sales in five other major electronic equipment categories – data processing, wired communications, wireless communications, consumer and industrial – because of 'overall technology market turbulence and lack of visibility'. Yet there is a silver lining, because iSuppli says conditions are looking up for both semiconductors and electronic equipment. "Key semiconductor companies are entering the second-quarter financial reporting period with revenue guidance averaging 13% sequential growth compared to an overall revenue decline of 18.8% posted in the first quarter of 2009." Similarly, global electronic equipment revenue is believed to have grown by 1.9% in Q2 and will increase by 10.4% in Q3 and by 8.9% in Q4. While these sequential increases won't be enough to generate annual revenue growth for chips or electronic products, they likely will pave the way for a better year in 2010. "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," Ford said. "Global electronic equipment revenue also will rise by 4.9 percent in 2010."