Most of the sector will struggle, but wireless, software should gain.

After capping off one of its worst years on record, the information technology business is likely to struggle again in 2002, but there will be pockets of growth and opportunity, spurred in part by growing concerns about security, analysts and investors said at the industry's annual Comdex show here. The personal computer and semiconductor industries, where already slack demand and pricing pressure has been exacerbated by declines in consumer confidence, are among those that will the hardest hit and the slowest to recover. At the same time, the software industry as a whole, and certain segments in particular, appear to be among the most resilient. By far, the chip industry will be the worst performing segment, logging a 35 percent sales drop compared with last year, according to Crawford DelPrete, an analyst at high-tech research firm International Data Corp. In 2002, DelPrete said, IDC is forecasting a 10 percent decline, with the industry returning to growth in 2003. Among chipmakers, DelPrete said those that specialize in chips used in mobile phones and other wireless communications devices are most likely to lead the upturn.