Silicon Valley and the credit crunch

Silicon Valley Produces Record Low IPO This Year

Silicon Valley, the center of the world's information technology industry, is in a slump so bad it produced just one listed firm this year. According to the San Jose Mercury News, security firm ArcSight was the only Silicon Valley-based company that made a successful initial public stock offering (IPO) this year. Silicon Valley had produced an average of 28 IPOs every year since 1985.

IPO is Silicon Valley's economic outlook index. It helped produce countless number of major IT firms, such as Netscape in 1995, Google in 2004, and IT solution firm VM Ware in 2007. In 1999, Silicon Valley produced 84 IPOs, when the venture boom reached its peak. This year's dismal offering reflects the seriousness of the global economic crisis.