The Optoelectronics, Sensors/Actuators and Discretes (O-S-D) market has stabilised and some parts of it are recovering, says IC Insights.

An update of IC Insights’ forecast for O-S-D shows combined sales in these three semiconductor market segments falling 4.4% in 2020 to $82.3 billion and rebounding 7.7% in 2021, which will lift total O-S-D sales in the three markets to a new record high of $88.6 billion (Figure 1).

The last time O-S-D sales fell was in 2009, when revenues dropped 10.0% during a semiconductor downturn that occurred in the last major global economic recession, caused by the 2008 financial crisis.

Figure 1

The updated O-S-D forecast shows only three of the 20 main product categories in optoelectronics, sensors/actuators, and discretes achieving sales growth in 2020 (+6.0% for laser transmitters, +0.5% for total image sensors—which will be driven by +0.9% in CMOS image sensors—and +1.4% for actuators).

No discretes product categories are expected to register sales increases in 2020.

Growth in laser transmitters, total image sensors (and CMOS designs), and actuators is expected to lift these product categories to new record-high sales in 2020.

In 2021, a sales rebound is forecast to occur in all 20 main O-S-D product categories, with seven of them reaching record-high revenues next year (Figure 2).