The semiconductor market, which is classified as non-integrated circuit (IC) such as sensors, achieved the 100 billion dollar mark for the first time last year. The increase in sales prices due to a surge in demand and insufficient supply of semiconductors was a major factor. This year, it is expected to record a high growth rate of 11% compared to last year.
According to market research firm IC Insights, optoelectronic, sensor/actuator, and discrete (OSD) semiconductor market recorded 104.2 billion dollars (about 125.5 trillion KRW) last year, up 18% from the previous year. OSD is a non-IC product refers semiconductor that provides simple functions such as optoelectronic(O) for LED, various sensors and actuator(S) for pressure, temperature, magnetic field, and discrete(D) for diode and transistor. Although it is distinguished from IC semiconductors where numerous circuits are gathered, the proportion is large enough to account for 17% of the total semiconductor market.
Sensors and actuators recorded the fastest growth, recording 27.8% growth. The size of the market is 21.1 billion dollars, the largest in history. Actuators that receive signals and control the movements of various devices have grown rapidly.
Discrete recorded a market size of 35.2 billion dollars, up 26.7%, more than five times the average annual growth rate over the past 30 years. This is because the demand for power transistors and diodes installed in various devices has increased significantly.
Among the OSD market, the largest market which is optoelectronic, was about 47.9 billion dollars, an increase of 8.9% compared to the previous year. Large CMOS image sensors grew only 6% to 20.3 billion dollars. It is interpreted that the production of devices equipped with CMOS image sensors is limited due to U.S.-China trade conflict, technology disputes, and shortages of semiconductors.
IC Insights predicted solid growth of the OSD market this year as well. Although the growth rate is slightly slower than last year, it is expected to record 115.5 billion dollars about 139,189 billion KRW, an 11% increase compared to this year. This year is also expected to be a record high. Optoelectronics is expected to grow 13% to 54.2 billion dollars, and sensors and actuators to grow 15% to 24.3 billion dollars. Discrete is expected to return to the previous year's level of growth and increase by 5% to reach 37.1 billion dollars.
By Staff Reporter Dong-jun Kwon (djkwon@etnews.com)