The Semiconductor Industry Association, a trade group comprised of computer, device, and chip makers, is reporting that chip sales dipped to $20.8 billion in 2008 from $23.1 billion in 2007, New York Times is reporting. It’s yet another sign of the U.S. economy’s fragile condition. But the “glass is half full” part of my brain can’t ignore the fact that sales are still brisk.

We already knew, of course, that businesses and consumers are spending less on IT. It makes perfect sense that non essential capital expenditures would lower: you can’t eat silicon. Innovations in technology can give businesses an edge, but when it comes time to tighten the belt, it is better to delay buying new workstations or BlackBerries for interns than it is to cut advertising or hand out pink slips. Consumers can afford to wait another year for the latest and greatest gadget.

There could be other contributing factors. Aside from the economy, the industry is on the downward edge of a sawtooth. I’m not going to buy a new computer today unless I have to, because OS X Snow Leopard and Windows 7 aren’t out yet. Many consumers are informed enough to know that they may want to hold off purchases for those releases.

While it is widely accepted that 2009 will be a difficult year economically, that does not mean that every sector of the economy will be affected equally. The IT industry is not the automobile industry–let’s not panic because one report tells us what we already anticipated.

 
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