"Revenue is being affected by significantly weaker than expected demand in all geographies and market segments. In addition, the PC supply chain is aggressively reducing component inventories." So says Intel, which is ratcheting down its Q4 revenue projections and expecting a decline from Q3 numbers. Just last month, the chipmaker predicted quarter-to-quarter sales growth of 3%.

Last week, Gartner released gloomy predictions for chip spending next year.

The gloom extends to a very different part of the tech industry, with Google shares falling below $300 and analysts expecting hard times ahead.