Samsung Electronics shakes the original Sony Shing of 'Image Sensor'

Samsung Electronics is cruising every year with Sony, the No. 1 CMOS image sensor (CIS) market. Recently, Samsung Electronics has attracted the attention of the industry as it succeeded in launching 200 million pixel image sensors before the launch of 100 million pixel mobile image sensors ahead of Sony.

Recently, Sony recently aimed to increase the share of image sensor to 60%by 2025 by aggressively investing in image sensor production facilities. The goal is to widen the gap with Samsung Electronics.

■ Samsung Battery, Sony Squadron… 30%p-> 16%p

Samsung Electronics started as a latecomer than Sony and began to mass-produce image sensors for the first time in 2002. Samsung Electronics, which was third in the industry after the second-placed omniVision, rose to second place for the first time in 2015, showing a steady growth.

Samsung Electronics is also narrowing the market share gap with Sony, the strongest No. 1. According to market research firm TSR, Sony and Samsung's share of Sony and Samsung Electronics recorded 48.4%and 18%in the image sensor market in 2019, and the gap was 30.4 percentage points (P). Two years later, in 2021, the company recorded 43%of Sony and 19.7%of Samsung Electronics, and the gap was reduced to 23.3 percentage points.

According to market research firm Stratege Analytics (SA), the gap between the two companies in the first quarter was narrowed. Samsung Electronics' image sensor share in the first quarter was 28.7%, up 2.6 percentage points from the fourth quarter of last year. Sony, on the other hand, has a 44.6% share, down 5.8 percentage points from the fourth quarter of last year.

In 2018, the gap between the two companies was more than 30 percentage points, but it narrowed significantly to 15.9 percentage points in the first quarter of this year.

The industry analyzed that Samsung Electronics was able to grow rapidly by applying memory semiconductor know-how to image sensor design and production. In addition, Samsung Electronics was able to secure new customers by launching a small and high pixel image sensor ahead of Sony. This is observed that the technology trend changes are advantageously applied in the smartphone market.

Samsung Electronics launched the world's first 200 million pixel mobile image sensor 'Isocell HP1' in September last year, and on the 23rd of this month, the pixel size is 0.56 μm (micrometer) 200 million pixel image sensor 'Iso' Cell HP3 has been released.

According to Samsung Electronics, the Isocell HP3 can reduce the size of smartphone camera modules by up to 20%. It is possible to create a smartphone without a high pixel, the so-called katuktu. Isocell HP3 will be mass-produced within the year.

Lim Jun-seo, vice president of Samsung Electronics' System LSI Business Division, said, Samsung Electronics opened the era of 100 million pixel image sensors for the first time in 2019, and the first 200 million pixel image sensor was launched last year. I'm doing it.

Samsung Electronics is supplying image sensors to Chinese smartphone cameras such as Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, and Motorola as well as its brand Galaxy.

Earlier, Samsung Electronics developed and supplied 'Isocell GNV' in the first half of this year for Vivo smartphone 'X80 Pro+'. This is significant in that it has expanded not only to general-purpose image sensors but also to customized image sensors.

■ Sony, Investment of image sensor production facilities… Keep the 1st place

Sony plans to expand its production to maintain the number one market share. Through this, Sony aims to increase the market share of the image sensor to 60%by 2025.

Sony officially announced on May 31 that it will expand the production capacity of the semiconductor plant in Nagasaki Prefecture. Earlier, Sony increased the production of image sensors for smartphones through the new Fab 5 (area of 48,000㎡), which was completed in Nagasaki Prefecture in April last year. Sony's new production facility will expand the line area of Fab 5 by up to 60%and aim to be completed in 2023. The new facility has already begun construction this month.

Sony's aggressive investment seems to have felt crisis in the growth of Samsung Electronics. In fact, this year's image sensor production is decreasing from the previous year.

Sony's image sensor production increased from 110,000 wafer levels in mid-2019 to about 137,000 pieces in the third quarter, but decreased to about 122,000 as of April. Sony said in the first quarter of May, We expect the capacity of 130,000 wafer in the first quarter.

Mobile accounts for more than 70% of Sony's total image sensor business. Currently, it is supplying image sensors to Apple and Huawei's smartphones.

The gap between Sony and Samsung is expected to decrease further this year.

According to the counterpoint, sales of the global image sensor market this year are expected to increase by 7% year-on-year to $ 21.9 billion (about 28 trillion won). Smartphones are expected to account for 71.4%of total image sensor sales.