Total sales of semiconductors in IC Insights:2022 will grow by 11%

, IC Insights released its comprehensive forecast and analysis of the global semiconductor industry on February 10th.

The report predicts that total semiconductor sales will grow by 11 per cent this year, following strong growth of 25 per cent in 2021 and 11 per cent in 2020. If this forecast can be realized, it will mark the first consecutive three-year double-digit growth in the semiconductor market since 1993 to 1995.

In addition, IC Insights also pointed out that from 2016 to 2021, the semiconductor market as a whole has a compound annual growth rate of 11.0% (CAGR)-a very strong period, including significant growth in the DRAM and flash markets in 2017 and 2018 and strong recovery after the 2020 and 2021 epidemics. However, most industry observers, including IC Insights, are aware that the semiconductor industry is highly cyclical, so sustained annual double-digit growth is unsustainable.

IC Insights also predicts that the total compound annual growth rate of light, sensors, and discrete devices (OSD devices) from 2021 to 2026 will maintain a healthy growth rate of 8.0%, and total IC sales are expected to grow at a slightly lower rate of 6.9%. The CAGR of major semiconductor product categories is expected to range from 12.3% for sensors / actuators to 3.1% for discrete devices.

The sensor / actuator market (expected to be $24.3 billion in 2022) is the smallest major product area in the semiconductor market, accounting for less than 4 per cent of sales. However sensor sales of cars mobile phones and portable and wearable systems (e.g. smartwatches and fitness / activity trackers) are expected to increase significantly over the forecast period. In addition, more systems are using multiple sensors and sensor fusion software for multidimensional measurements to support higher machine intelligence and the ability to identify motion, understand location, and monitor changes in the surrounding environment.

IC Insights expects the compound annual growth rate of the logical IC market to be the strongest among the major IC categories. The logic IC market has performed very well in recent years, and automotive logic and industrial logic devices have become a strong driving force for the overall growth of this field.