SCOTTSDALE, USA: IC Insights has begun shipping the 2008 edition of its O-S-D Report, A Market Analysis and Forecast for Optoelectronics, Sensors/Actuators, and Discretes.

The $256 billion semiconductor universe consists of integrated circuits (ICs) and optoelectronics, sensors/actuators, and discrete (O-S-D) components. The O-S-D markets account for about 15 percent of total semiconductor revenues, and their combined revenues are increasing at a CAGR of 13 percent per year between 2002 and 2012, based on detailed forecasts in the new 2008 O-S-D Report.

After lagging IC market growth in the 1980s and most of the 1990s, O-S-D revenues began increasing at a stronger rate 10 years ago. Growth in the O-S-D market categories has slightly pulled ahead of ICs this decade. By 2012, total O-S-D sales are expected to exceed $66 billion compared to nearly $38 billion in 2007, according to IC Insights' forecast.

Although smaller and oftentimes overlooked, the O-S-D market plays a vital role in the overall health and advancement of the semiconductor and electronic systems industries, making IC Insights' O-S-D Report an essential part of any semiconductor market research library.

Covered in the report are some of the industry's fastest growing product categories and manufacturing technologies, such as CMOS image sensors, MEMS-based sensors/actuators, laser transmission devices, high-brightness LEDs, microphone chips, fingerprint sensors, and new power transistors used in portable electronics, power supplies, and automotive electronics, such as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs).