Projections for high-tech hardware makers are looking grim for the coming years. As a result, investors with shares in semiconductor companies or PC makers would be wise to eat their losses – unless they have the stomach to grind it out perhaps into 2010 or 2011.

A rash of recent reports clearly indicates that the hardware makers will endure shrinking revenues. The usual suspects are a work here. It’s mostly the credit crunch that is tightening the spending for both business and consumers when it comes to high-end computer systems or PCs for the family.

Since 2001, forecasts from ChangeWave Research have ranked as among the most reliable for predicting buying patterns in the high-tech market. Every quarter, the group surveys about 2,000 businesses about their tech-spending plans.

The results released Friday, from a survey in early November, found that 45% of businesses say they’ll decrease tech spending – or spend nothing at all – in Q1 2009. That’s up from 29% who said they would decrease spending last quarter.

That’s also a new record for the survey, topping the 37% who said they would decrease spending in September 2001.

Just 10% of businesses said that they would increase tech spending next quarter, a record low for the survey. The survey revealed that 48% of the respondents say they don’t think tech spending will begin to pick up again until after the third quarter of 2009.

Industry group World Semiconductor Trade Statistics saw the decline impact the semiconductor market as well. It forecast semiconductor revenues to fall 2.2% in 2009 from weak demand.

The chip market will shrink to $256 billion next year, down from an expected $261.9 billion in 2008, said the group, whose 66 member chip makers comprise some 80% of the global chip market.

The industry group also cut its outlook for 2008 and 2010. Chip makers now expect sales to grow an annual 2.5% in 2008, down from an earlier forecast of 4.7%.

A new report from International Data Corp. shows worldwide PC shipments into the United States will be 1.1 percent lower in Q4 than they were for the same period last year. This a time when PC sales usually rise, but this year is an aberration.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs said in its own recent study that PC sales may not rebound until 2011 or 2012. The double whammy for PC makers is both lower revenues as slimmer margins as they are forced to dump inventories and compete on price.

So it now looks like PC sales are going down the same path as SUVs – although we don’t expect Silicon Valley to come begging for a government handout.