EL SEGUNDO, CA -- Worldwide semiconductor revenue in the first quarter fell 33.8% year-over-year to $44.3 billion, according to research released yesterday. However, it could mark the bottom of the decline, iSuppli said.

Sales were down 18.8% sequentially, iSuppli said.

The decline has been broad-based, with almost every supplier affected. “Of the 130-plus semiconductor suppliers tracked by iSuppli on a quarterly basis, only six managed to expand their revenue in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2008,” said Dale Ford, senior vice president, market intelligence, for iSuppli. “Even among these six suppliers, four increased their revenue by only 1 to 3%.”

iSuppli’s latest forecast predicts that the first quarter will represent the bottom of the semiconductor market decline and that revenues in the fourth quarter of 2009 will exceed those in the fourth quarter 2008. On a sequential basis, revenue will rise 7.1% in the current quarter, by 10.4% in the third and 4.9% in the fourth quarter.

During the March quarter, every major region suffered sequential double-digit percentage declines in semiconductor revenue. “Although the first quarter is typically weak for the global semiconductor industry, the sharp declines in semiconductor during that period and in the fourth quarter of 2008 reflect the impact of the global economic downturn on the worldwide chip business,” Ford said.

Companies headquartered in the Americas fared the best during the downturn, with a combined revenue decline in US dollars of 30.8% since the third quarter of 2008. European-headquartered companies suffered the worst decline, with their combined revenues falling 44.5% during the same period. Japanese suppliers fared nearly as badly as their European counterparts, suffering a contraction of 43.5%.

However, the picture is very different if company revenues are maintained in the local currency and not converted to US dollars. Changes in currency exchange rates have a notable impact on revenue growth when converted to a common dollar basis. European supplier revenues fell by 36.1% since the third quarter 2008 if their revenues are measured in euros. On the other hand, Japanese company revenues fell by nearly 51% during the same time if revenues are measured in yen.

Korean and Taiwanese suppliers saw steep revenue declines between the third and fourth quarters of 2008 followed by much more moderate declines between the fourth and first quarters. In contrast, Japanese companies suffered the biggest hit on revenues in the first quarter of 2009 when their combined revenues fell by nearly 31% compared to the fourth quarter.