Global Chip Sales Fall by a Third in 2001

Worldwide semiconductor sales fell by one-third this year, the industry’s worst, and many chip makers will find recovery difficult, Gartner Inc.’s Dataquest Inc. unit said.

Global semiconductor revenue fell to $152 billion this year, according to preliminary data by Dataquest, a market research company.

Consumers and businesses are buying fewer PCs and electronic devices as economies slow, reducing the prices for the semiconductors that power them.