Pure-play foundries are seeing seasonal weakness in communications and computing, with the exception of netbook PCs, according to iSuppli (El Segundo, Calif.).

Foundries also are reporting ''downward pricing pressure'' at advanced nodes, such as 65-nm; however, pricing for more mature 0.18-micron technologies are holding steady, according to iSuppli.

Global semiconductor foundry revenue in the fourth quarter is set to rise by a mild 6 percent compared to the third quarter, according to iSuppli. Foundry utilization is set to rise to 83 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, up from 72 percent in the first quarter, they said.

Worldwide pure-play semiconductor foundry revenue is set to amount to $5.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009, up 53.7 percent from the same period in 2008, according to the firm.

The fourth quarter of 2008 marked the beginning of a sharp downturn in the business. Revenue in the fourth quarter of 2008 amounted to $3.7 billion, a 32.3 percent and $1.7 billion plunge from $5.4 billion during the previous quarter.

"The strong year-over-year rise in pure-play foundry revenue in the fourth quarter paints a deceptively strong picture of industry growth," said Len Jelinek, an analyst at iSuppli, in a statement. "The reality is that the fourth quarter is bringing only a moderate expansion in revenue compared to the third quarter. Furthermore, foundries are noting a slowing of orders, indicating an underlying uncertainty in the market."