The Information Technology Industry

Although in a very broad sense the origin of the U.S. information-technology industry can be dated from the invention of the transistor in 1947, the critical mass of the industry was shaped in the 1980s with the introduction of personal-computer technology to the mass market. Since the 1980s, historically unprecedented technological innovation has occurred in the information industry that has had influence not only within the high-tech industry itself but also across industries that historically have been associated with very little technology. Today, the IT industry is said to comprise four industrial categories: hardware, software and related services, communications equipment, and communications services, including cable TV and telephone services (CEA, 2001). All of these industrial segments are technology driven, and none would be constituted today as it is but for high technology.

Technological innovation continues apace, but multiple (and multiply vexed) fronts present themselves because it is by no means clear whether the structure of the industry is eq

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e index of the growth rate of the information-technology industry is that in 1987 the semiconductor industry accounted for 1.5 percent of the U.S. gross domestic, but by 1999, "it accounted for not only half the world market in its product but also for over 5 percent of manufacturing value-added in the U.S. economy, making it the manufacturing sector's leader" (Spencer, 2004). The 2001 report supplied graphical representation of that trend, reflected in Figure 1. Figure 1. Growth of the U.S. information-technology market, 1996 to 2000.
Source: Council of Economic Advisers Annual Report, 2001, Chart 4.2, p. 157. The story of American information technology as a revenue producer was not all one of upward trends. For example, many U.S. semiconductors were exported abroad and then reimported, having been installed inside computers manufactured abroad. Further, as Figure 2 shows, the Department of Commerce reported a significant downturn of both GDP and information technology production in the U.S. beginning in 2001. In that year, indeed, such high-tech icons as Motorola and Intel engaged in massive domestic layoffs owing to depressed consumer demand for electronics (Weinstein, 2001, p. 14b). Such downturns appear to be an attrib
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