The weak economy—and fears of continued economic uncertainty worldwide—is weighing on the market for optoelectronics, sensors/actuators and discrete semiconductors (O-S-D) as 2013 comes to a close. Though sales in the O-S-D market will hit another peak in 2013, growth is slowing for the second straight year, according to market researcher IC Insights.
In its October Update to the subscription-based McClean Report—A Complete Analysis and Forecast of the Integrated Circuit Industry, IC Insights says the O-S-D market is bumping along in 2013 as it struggles to maintain quarterly momentum. The firm predicts less than 1% growth in the O-S-D market this year, to $58.6 billion. That follows a 1% increase in 2012 to the current peak of $58.2 billion.
“These back-to-back annual sales increases of about 1% are nearly seven percentage points below the O-S-D market’s compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.8% over the past 15 years,” IC Insights said in a statement announcing the new report.
Continued uncertainty about the weak global economy, price erosion in key product categories and low inventory levels at system makers are key reasons for the sluggish growth, the researcher said.
What’s more, the O-S-D sales growth rate for 2013 will be substantially below that of the total IC market, which is expected to rise roughly 6% this year to $268.9 billion.
