Preliminary statistics show 2001 as worst year for semiconductor industry

DECEMBER 20--Semiconductor vendors have struggled through the worst industry decline in the history of the market, as 2001 worldwide semiconductor revenue declined 33% to $152 billion, according to preliminary statistics by Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner Inc. (San Jose, CA; www.gartner.com). All of the top 10 semiconductor vendors experienced revenue declines ranging from 19% to 49%.

"The entrepreneurial model of building and investing in new technology went bust in 2001. A downturn of this magnitude will be difficult for many companies to recover from in 2002," said Mary Olsson, chief analyst for Gartner Dataquest's worldwide semiconductor group. "As is evident in the sizeable declines by most of the top vendors, the industry has undergone tremendous destabilization. We expect further consolidation of the industry during 2002."