Semiconductor spending falls by a quarter

Gartner has warned that spending on semiconductor capital has collapsed, and is not likely to recover until 2010. The analyst firm found that spending on capital equipment has dropped by over a quarter in the past year, from US$63bn to US$47bn. Gartner estimates that spending will drop by another eighth in 2009 before bottoming out in 2010. "The excess spending of 2006 and 2007 has hit home in 2008, and the semiconductor equipment industry will continue to feel the pinch well into 2009, " said Dean Freeman, research vice president for Gartner's semiconductor manufacturing group. "Oversupply in the memory... [read full story]