Chip Sales to Fall This Year, Gartner Says in Forecast Reversal

Semiconductor sales worldwide will decline 0.1 percent this year to $299 billion, research company Gartner Inc. (IT) said, reversing a previous forecast that revenue would rise 5.1 percent.

Gartner also lowered its projection for chip sales in 2012, predicting a 4.6 percent increase versus a 8.6 percent gain, citing a worsening economic outlook.

“Three key factors are shaping the short-term outlook: excess inventory, manufacturing overcapacity and slowing demand due to economic weakness,” Bryan Lewis, research vice president at Stamford, Connecticut-based Gartner, said in a statement today. “The odds of a double-dip U.S. recession continue to rise and are raising fear that sales prospects will deteriorate further.”

The research company said on Sept. 8 that global personal- computer shipments will increase less than predicted this year and next as consumers scale back spending. Semiconductor companies’ third-quarter forecasts have been “well below seasonal averages,” Lewis said today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chiara Remondini in Milan at cremondini@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at kwong11@bloomberg.net