LONDON — Market research group Gartner has lowered its forecast for semiconductor equipment manufacturing gear sales in 2009, just weeks after a previous downgrade.

Gartner says the revise follows a significant reduction in its expectations for the 2009 chip market.

The company forecast last month that semiconductor industry capital spending would decline 25.7 percent this year and a further 12.8 percent in 2009.

It now suggests next year's decline would be nearer 18 percent.

Other market researchers have also been cutting their forecasts for capital spending amidst steep declines in demand and continuing overcapacity, notably in the memories sectors.

Earlier this month, Gartner also revised downwards its expectations for worldwide semiconductor revenues and said for this year, it would be $279.4 billion, a 2 percent increase from 2007.

In its previous forecast, the research firm projected that the IC industry would grow about 7.8 percent in 2009. Gartner now expects worldwide semiconductor revenue in 2009 to total approximately $282 billion, a 1 percent increase from 2008 revenues.

It now says that even though its previous capital equipment forecast, issued October 7, was already based on lowered semiconductor sales expectations, "the increased downside for 2009 sales and a number of downward revisions in 2009 capital spending budgets compel us to lower our capital and equipment spending expectations to the downside scenario (Alternative 2), stated in our most recent forecast.

"With that, we currently expect a capital spending decline of about 17 percent in 2009 and capital equipment to drop roughly 18 percent."

Capital spending expectations for 2009 are now reduced from $41.1 billion to $39 billion, while the total 2009 equipment spending forecast is now put at $26.8 billion, down from $30.5 billion.

Gartner adds that in absolute terms, the industry's sales potential is declining further, by $3.7 billion, from its October forecast, rolling sales back to the pre-2004 level. "We see a quarterly revenue bottom in mid-2009, at $6.3 billion, which is a level not seen since the fourth quarter of 2003."