Semiconductor sales are on the up

Revenue bouncing back after the most prolonged dip in the sector's history

Semiconductor revenue is recovering now

The IT industry saw an unprecedented decline in worldwide semiconductor sales in first quarter 2009, and reported a significant decline in revenue for the year.

According to a report from research firm Gartner, total worldwide semiconductor revenue reached $228.4bn (£152.6bn) in 2009, a drop of 10.5 per cent or $26.8bn (£17.9bn) on 2008.

The company said this has been the longest dip in revenue in the history of the semiconductor industry following big losses in 2008 compared with 2007.

However the industry performed much better than expected in the second half of the year, and is expected to put in a relatively strong performance for 2010.

"After an unprecedented decline in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, sequential quarterly revenue growth for the industry overall was very strong in the last three quarters of 2009," said Peter Middleton, principal research analyst at Gartner.

"As a result, 2009 performance overall was much milder than initially feared in the aftermath of the financial crisis."