Confirming news first leaked by Apple CEO Steve Jobs himself, Apple this morning issued a press release officially announcing the big-box retailer as an iPad launch partner. Its only iPad launch partner–the release includes no mention of AT&T (T).

“iPad connects users with their apps and content in a far more intimate and fun way than ever before,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs enthused in the announcement. “We can’t wait for users to get their hands and fingers on it this weekend.”

Sales at Apple (AAPL) and Best Buy (BBY) stores will begin at 9 am Saturday, with Apple stores offering iPad workshops and a free Personal Setup service for customers looking for a bit of help getting their new iPads configured and loaded up with their favorite apps and media.

If you’re hoping to find iPad at Best Buy, you would do well to arrive early. Leaked documents from the retailer suggest its iPad inventories will be pretty slim, about 15 per store (see highlighted text below; click to enlarge).

Meanwhile, Mac Rumors and Mac Daily News both report that some the earliest of early adopters have begun receiving shipping notifications for their iPads.

[Best Buy Playbook Image Credit: TUAW.com]

FURTHER READING:

Launch Day iPads Sold Out

iPad Available at “Most Best Buy Stores” This Saturday

Apple Grabs iPad Trademark From Fujitsu

Apple Now Accepting iPad App Submissions

Early Supplies of iPad Accessories Dwindling?

Initial iPad Demand Greater Than Initial iPhone Demand

iPad TV?

Apple’s Tablet: Read Different?

Rumored Apple Netbook Actually an E-book?

Coming Soon From Apple: Big Touch?

iTablet: Apple’s Killer App for Higher Ed

COMPLETE IPAD COVERAGE

“2009 turned out to be a better year for the global semiconductor industry than expected,” SIA President George Scalise said in a statement. “A strong focus on inventories throughout the supply chain mitigated the impact of the worldwide economic downturn and positioned the industry for growth as the global economy recovers.”

And, indeed, Scalise says the SIA expects “healthy” growth in chip demand in 2010, with unit sales of PCs and cellphones–which account for about 60 percent of total semiconductor consumption–to grow in the low-to-midteens over the the coming year.

“As semiconductor sales are increasingly driven by the performance of the overall global economy, our sales are reflecting the improved economic conditions in our world markets,” said SIA President George Scalise. “Sales increased sequentially in all geographic regions.”

Chip makers have kept inventories lean, and the holiday ramp-up in production could be extended by a few weeks, Scalise added.

Great news, coming as it does after the chip industry’s seemingly endless procession of bad. The semiconductor sector is typically among the first industries to recover ahead of a broader market turnaround. This latest report suggests we may be at the beginning of just that or at least at an inflection point where the uncertainty in consumer and enterprise technology markets that’s been such a drag on the industry begins to abate.

In the second quarter, chip sales registered their fourth consecutive monthly increase, the Semiconductor Industry Association said today, suggesting that we may be seeing the beginning of a gradual recovery in the industry. Though worldwide chip sales fell 20 percent year-over-year in the second quarter, they rose 17 percent from the first quarter. And June sales, which totaled $17.2 billion, were 3.7 percent higher from May (click on chart to enlarge).

The chip market is still lousy, but it’s clearly improving. Said SIA President George Scalise: “The fourth-consecutive monthly increase in sales is one indicator the industry is returning to normal seasonal growth patterns.”

Scalise added that focused supply chain management by both producers and customers has done much to temper the impact of the econalypse on the industry. “Inventories have been closely managed, encouraging us to believe that the sequential increase in quarterly sales represents a gradual recovery of demand,” he added.

“PC unit growth was stronger than we expected in all markets but Eastern Europe in the first quarter of 2009. In particular, consumer shipments were much stronger than we anticipated,” said Gartner’s George Shiffler. “However, professional shipments continued to struggle, and we think much of the growth in consumer units was due to vendors and the channel restocking inventories rather than an upsurge in demand.”

Well, hopefully that will all change after the October launch of Windows 7, right?

Nope. Not according to Gartner (IT), anyway. Unless Microsoft (MSFT) is planning another $300 million ad campaign featuring Jerry Seinfeld.

“Unless Microsoft mounts a major marketing campaign in support of Windows 7, we think consumers will simply adopt the new operating system as they would normally buy new PCs and/or replace old ones,” Shiffler said. “As for professional users, we still expect them to put off adopting the new OS for at least a year until they have fully tested their applications against it.”

“PC unit growth was stronger than we expected in all markets but Eastern Europe in the first quarter of 2009. In particular, consumer shipments were much stronger than we anticipated,” said Gartner’s George Shiffler. “However, professional shipments continued to struggle, and we think much of the growth in consumer units was due to vendors and the channel restocking inventories rather than an upsurge in demand.”

Well, hopefully that will all change after the October launch of Windows 7, right?

Nope. Not according to Gartner (IT), anyway. Unless Microsoft (MSFT) is planning another $300 million ad campaign featuring Jerry Seinfeld.

“Unless Microsoft mounts a major marketing campaign in support of Windows 7, we think consumers will simply adopt the new operating system as they would normally buy new PCs and/or replace old ones,” Shiffler said. “As for professional users, we still expect them to put off adopting the new OS for at least a year until they have fully tested their applications against it.”

It would appear that Intel’s loss is, for the most part, AMD’s gain. Intel’s (INTC) shipments declined 16 percent while those of its rival increased 13 percent. Great news for AMD (AMD), which has been having a rough time of it lately with more than two fiscal years of losses and little sign of an upturn.

And what of the broader chip market? IDC says it remains weak, but believes a bottom may be in sight. Overall, shipments were down, but their rate of decline appears to be slowing. During the first quarter, world-wide shipments fell 10.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008. That’s not nearly as bad as their 17 percent decline from the third quarter to fourth. So the good news here in that the bad news could have been worse. Says IDC: “The PC processor market is still in weak condition. While OEM demand picked up notably towards the end of the quarter and going into April, IDC is wary that the demand was due to OEMs replenishing their inventories rather than reflecting a return of solid end demand and return to market normalcy. IDC continues to expect modest sequential processor unit shipment decline in 2Q09.”

The same can apparently be said for the PC market. Research outfit Gartner on Monday warned that PC sales will suffer the “sharpest unit decline in history” this year. Gartner (IT) expects the PC industry to ship just 257 million units this year. That’s an 11.9 percent decline from 2008, one that easily eclipses the previous worst decline in 2001, when shipments fell 3.2 percent.

“The PC industry is facing extraordinary conditions as the global economy continues to weaken, users stretch PC lifetimes and PC suppliers grow increasingly cautious,” said Gartner research director George Shiffler. “Slower GDP growth will generally weaken demand and slow new penetration, lengthening PC lifetimes will reduce replacements, and supplier caution will keep inventories at historic lows.”

I’ll say. Gartner believes desktop shipments will decline a staggering 31.9 percent from 2008. Even an expected 80 percent spike in netbook sales, the lone bright spot in the market, won’t do much to temper that. Bad news for PC manufacturers like Dell (DELL) and HP (HPQ), and for suppliers like Microsoft (MSFT), Intel (INTC) and AMD (AMD) as well.