After experiencing a difficult year, companies in the sector may welcome the news that 2010 has the potential to offer significant growth, if Gartner is to be believed.
Dean Freeman, research vice-president at the firm, explained that growth in the first half of the year could be driven by technology upgrades taking place in the industry.
The forecast by Gartner is for global semiconductor spending to increase 45.3 per cent by the end of next year, with predictions for 2011 also positive.
Mr Freeman added: "The quarterly growth may see a slight lull in the third quarter of 2010, before capacity additions - starting in late 2010 - ramp up the equipment industry into 2011."
This week, Gartner also predicted that the international use of open source business intelligence tools could grow significantly over the next two or three years.
