It goes without saying that 2009 was a tough year for the electronics industry. With the notable exception of laptops – which grew in unit shipments throughout the year– and LCD-TVs, most product segments suffered significant declines. That started to change in the third quarter as year-over-year and sequential growth returned to many product groups. Desktop PCs are likely to remain sluggish as buyers turn to laptops that are cheaper and come with robust functionality.

The industry managed its inventory better during this recession. During the 2000/2001 recession, the industry had to eat through a mountain of inventory before factories restarted. This time around, any increase in demand should prompt production. But the current recession has been more broad-based and far deeper than the last recession, so the industry still has some recovering to do before revenue returns to pre-recession highs.Gartner predicted worldwide IT spending in 2010 to be about $3.3 trillion, up about 3.3 percent over the estimated spending of $3.2 trillion in 2009. However, Gartner said, spending actually peaked in 2008 at $3.4 trillion.

Read more in the January 5, 2010 EDN