Beancounters working for market research outfit iSuppli have added up some numbers and divided by their collective shoe sizes and decided that global semiconductor and electronics-equipment sales this year are expected to decline more sharply than expected.

While promising a bright future in the second half of the year and in 2010, iSuppli said that worldwide semiconductor sales are set to drop 23 percent in 2009 to $198.9 billion compared with a previous forecast of a 21.5 percent decline. Sales of electronic equipment, for cars, data processing, communications and consumer and industrial use, are set to fall 9.8 percent this year to $1.38 trillion, steeper than the 7.6 percent drop predicted earlier. The slump in the car industry was the major factor behind the downgrade for electronic equipment, iSuppli said.

iSuppli is projecting the semiconductor industry will show improvements beginning in the fourth quarter of 2009, which will provide the basis for overall growth of 13.1 percent in 2010. Global electronic equipment revenue is also expected to rise by 4.9 percent next year.