NEW YORK - Research firms say that what looked like a good year for computers and chips has fizzled.
IHS iSuppli says global chip shipments are set to fall by 0.1 percent this year. That's down from a previous forecast for growth of up to 3 percent. It's the first annual decline since recession-colored 2009.
ISuppli says the big reason behind the decline is that PC sales are anemic.
IDC, another research firm, agrees. It now expects PC shipments to grow just 0.9 percent this year. That's down from a forecast of 5 percent growth issued in March.
IDC says sales have been weak so far this year, and a bounce from the impending release of Windows 8 may not be as strong as it had expected.