Talk that the economic crisis of the last 12 months could take a generation to put right seems laughable when you look at the resilience of the semiconductor market.
What chance that this year's fall in sales will be largely wiped out by growth next year?
Every chance, if you consider the predictions being made about the automotive chip market. Which, let's remember, has been hit as hard as any market in 2008.
According to market watcher Strategy Analytics, chip sales year-on-year to car manufacturers will be down 14% in 2009.
But there is every chance that this decline will be wiped out with a similarly-sized percentage recovery in 2010.
Recovery will start as early as the fourth quarter of 2009 with year-on-year sales growth becoming the norm for chip firms, so says market watcher iSuppli.
The analyst is predicting a 16.5% fall in chip sales this year. But the good news is that sales in Q4 will bounce back by 10%.
So maybe growth figures of 15% next year do not seem all that optimistic.
Let's hope.
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