The technology companies have so far come out relatively unscathed during the financial crisis, however, sales could catch up to them in the following year, leaving exchange traded funds (ETFs) vulnerable.

The latest numbers show that technology industry leaders Intel Corp. (INTC) and Micorsoft Corp. (MSFT) and other players could lose out on up to $170 billion in sales next year as the credit crunch catches up to them.

Ian King and Katie Hoffmann for Bloomberg report that corporate spending on computers, software and communications equipment will either change little or fall up to 5% for 2009. It would be the first decline in the $3.41 trillion market since 2001, after the dot-com bubble.

The lending freeze has many clients spooked and consumer growth has slowed, but corporate budgets have stayed steady, until now. More date will follow tomorrow when Intel reports two-weeks worth of third quarter reports. Intel’s chips run more than 3 quarters of the world’s personal computers.

• iShares S&P Global Technology Sector (IXN): down 28% year-to-date; Microsoft 9.4%; Intel is 4.7% (black line)
• Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK): down 28.3% year-to-date; Microsoft is 10.8%; Intel is 4.8% (green line)

Tags: Green ETFs, IXN, Sector ETFs, Technology, VGT, XLK