Primed for growth in 2010, whenever it comes

By EE Times Staff
EE Times

12/14/2009 12:01 AM EST
URL: http://www.eetimessupplynetwork.com/222001615

This was a brutal year, but the industry gets a nod for showing grace under fire. Indeed, if next year turns out better than this one for the tech business, it won't simply be because the economy finally perked up and equipment purchases bounced back.

In the wake of the credit crisis, executives made tough decisions whose impact will reverberate throughout the electronics sector in the coming months and beyond. Unprofitable business units and companies were shuttered or forced into bankruptcy restructuring. Unlikely alliances were formed. Even AMD and Intel, after a decade-long battle, achieved detente.

As the financial crisis kicked off the Great Recession, companies undertook capex reductions, layoffs and executive firings, as well as new R&D initiatives, new product development programs and strategic hirings. The moves, chronicled in the following pages, have positioned the industry for improved performance, even as the thick fog hanging over the economy keeps businesses and consumers socked in.

The technology sector will remain vigilant in 2010, so expect more strategic initiatives that will define how fortunes are made and lost.

Below is our list of key technology trends entering 2010:

Economic whiplash shaping tech strategies

Intel sets sights on new markets

GlobalFoundries takes on the world

The year the past caught up with Europe

For CEOs, uncertainty is guaranteed

Memory massacre of 2009

Along with wafers, foundries made mistakes

Economic turbulence roils Japan

Venture capital creeps toward the light

LEDs, smart grid lead green tech charge

—Contributors: Peter Clarke, Mark LaPedus, George Leopold, Dylan McGrath and Bolaji Ojo.