O-S-D sales to fall 6%

Author: EIS Release Date: May 29, 2020


After 10 years of record-high sales, combined revenues for optoelectronics, sensors/actuators, and discrete semiconductors are expected to drop 6% in 2020, says the O-S-D Report from IC Insights.

When 2020 began, global conditions pointed to single-digit percentage market growth this year for O-S-D devices, but the outlook suddenly deteriorated in Q1 due to the coronavirus.

Figure 1

The new O-S-D Report‘s semiconductor forecast model assumes containment in the virus pandemic by the middle of 2020 and a gradual turnaround in product markets during the last half of this year and into 2021.

Total O-S-D sales are now expected to drop to $80.9 billion in 2020.

The new forecast cuts about $9.1 billion of sales from IC Insights’ preliminary 2020 projection for the O-S-D markets before the outlook was downgraded at the end of March (Figure 2).

However, the new forecast shows total O-S-D sales rebounding in 2021 with sales growing 9% to set a new record-high combined total of $88.1 billion.

Figure 2

Optoelectronics and sensors/actuators both reached record-high sales in 2019, according to the O-S-D Report.

Optoelectronics sales increased 9% in 2019 to $44.1 billion while the normally high-flying sensors/actuators market barely grew by about 1% to $14.9 billion.

 Discretes sales ended three consecutive years of growth, falling 0.9% to $27.1 billion in 2019.  The forecast in the new report shows optoelectronics sales dropping about 6% in 2020 to $41.7 billion; the sensors/actuators market sliding 4% to $14.2 billion; and discretes revenue falling 8% to $25.0 billion this year.

IC Insights expects optoelectronics and sensors/actuators sales to rebound by about 10% in 2021, reaching new record highs of $45.8 billion and $15.7 billion, respectively.  Discretes sales are projected to grow 7% in 2021 to $26.7 billion but will not set a new record high until 2022.