Source: The content comes from "
Caixun
", thank you.
A wave of mobile phone lens upgrades has officially begun, and this trend will drive Taichung's optical industry into a golden age.
Less than two months after Apple launched the iPhone 11 Pro with 3 lenses, Xiaomi went the extra mile and launched a mobile phone with 5 main lenses.
Xiaomi's new phone has amazing specifications. In addition to the main lens resolution increased to 100 million pixels, in addition to the ultra-wide-angle and telephoto lenses that other flagship models have, it also adds a medium-focus lens for portraits and a macro lens that can shoot objects around 1 cm.
It is worth mentioning that Largan's top 8P lens also debuted on this phone.
8P means that this lens is composed of 8 plastic lenses. This tiny lens must show the best optical quality at a height of about 1 cm.
Largan's top-notch lens, superb night photography
This time, Largan's 8P lens allows the maximum lens aperture to reach 1.7. Since the smaller the aperture number, the more light can be taken in, it can provide the ultra-high resolution required for 100 million pixels. As soon as this phone was launched, it ranked first on the mobile phone photography review website DxOMark.
Xiaomi is not an exception. This year, the new flagship phones launched by Samsung and Huawei are equipped with 4 main lenses.
In 2020, the top 5 mobile phone manufacturers in the world will launch new flagship phones with more lenses. For example, the Galaxy 11 launched by Samsung in early 2020 will increase to 4 lenses, Sony plans to launch a 6-lens flagship phone, and Apple's top-level mobile phone will also add 1 high-end ToF (time-of-flight) lens in addition to the three lenses.
The ToF lens design will allow Apple to take the lead in new AR (augmented reality) applications. "Apple splits the infrared transmission and reception into two parts," said Pu Deyu, executive director of GF Securities and chief analyst of overseas electronics industry.
This lens allows the phone to obtain depth information. With just one shot, the flat image can be transformed into a three-dimensional AR model. With Apple's own AR software platform, the imagination space is unlimited.
Therefore, AR-related applications are the next hot business opportunity for mobile phone lenses.
Pu Deyu observed that although the number of mobile phones in 2020 has only grown slightly, the mobile phone lens market is in a period of rapid growth.
The market size of the lens market for mobile phones and tablets was US$3.8 billion in 2018, and it has grown by 18% this year to US$4.5 billion. In 2020, it will grow by another 20% to reach US$5.4 billion.
JP Morgan also issued a report this year that the market share of triple-lens phones will almost double from 18% this year to 29% in 2020, but the market share of single-lens phones will drop from 33% this year to 12% in 2020.
Pu Deyu observed that the increase in mobile phone lenses is an irreversible trend. "After using a mobile phone with three lenses, it is difficult for you to go back to a mobile phone with only one lens."
Moreover, not only the number of lenses has increased, but also the requirements for lenses have become higher.
The JP Morgan report also pointed out that in 2020, Apple will also upgrade the main lens from 6P to 7P.
In 2020, not only will the demand for mobile phone lenses increase, but the specifications will also improve, and the unit price is expected to rise further, which will usher in a golden age of growth in both revenue and profit.
"Mobile phone lenses will be in short supply in 2020. In fact, high-end lenses are already in short supply now," Pu Deyu observed. The entire market demand will increase by 20% in 2020. In the first quarter of 2020, more multi-lens mobile phones will be launched, but there are only four lens manufacturers capable of supplying in large quantities: Largan, Gem Optical, Sunny Optical and AAC Technologies.
Supply exceeds demand, and four major manufacturers are enjoying a good time
He analyzed that Largan is currently the leading company in the production of top lenses, with a unit price of almost double that of its rival Sunny Optical, and a global market share of over 30%.
Faced with the market explosion, "Largan's production capacity will only increase by 10% in 2020, and the space in the factory is full. The expansion will not start mass production until 2023." The limited expansion of Largan, the leader, also means that there is no risk of price cuts in the entire market for the time being. In recent years, Largan's gross profit margin has also remained at an ultra-high level of 69%.
Now, although the peak of iPhone sales has passed and the mobile phone market is not particularly good, the production of the most difficult and highest-end lenses alone has already filled Largan's production capacity to capacity, and order visibility is now scheduled until the first quarter of 2020.
Sunny Optical is closely behind. Largan sells both Apple and Android phones, while Sunny Optical mainly supplies Android phones. Pu Deyu observed that there is still a one-year technological gap between Sunny Optical and Largan. Sunny Optical is currently expanding production, and "the scale of production capacity in 2020 will be similar to that of Largan."
However, the financial report shows that Sunny Optical's gross profit margin is only 18%, far lower than Largan.
Yujingguang's profitability has shown amazing growth in the past two years. Currently, Yujingguang's lenses are mainly supplied to Apple. However, five years ago, Yujingguang's gross profit margin was only 8%. In the third quarter of this year, Yujingguang's gross profit margin has climbed to 49%, and the third quarter EPS (earnings per share after tax) was as high as 15 yuan.
Yujingguang's yield rate improved and gross profit rose
The key is that Yujingguang's yield rate was not good in the past, and it could only supply iPhone front lenses. However, every time Apple develops a new lens, it will give manufacturers the opportunity to participate in the bidding. Yujingguang has made a breakthrough in 6P lens technology this year, coupled with equipment upgrades, so it won Apple's order for 2 main lenses. In addition, the yield rate has improved, and EPS has soared.
Now, Yujingguang is also renting a factory in Xiamen to prepare for expansion, and the new production capacity will be in place in early 2020.
Pu Deyu estimates that Yujingguang's production capacity will increase by 10% to 20% in 2020.
Yujingguang is also actively developing ToF lenses and has currently developed lenses for the receiving end. In 2020, when Apple's main lens is upgraded again, whether Yujingguang can still win more orders for Apple's main lens is the most important observation point.
The last manufacturer worth noting is China's AAC Technologies. This company's production capacity this year is slightly smaller than that of Yujingguang, and it is also the most backward in technology among the four companies, mainly focusing on 3P~5P lenses. However, AAC Technologies launched an amazing expansion plan this year, and its production capacity will increase by 80% in 2020. However, whether such a large investment can be converted into profits remains to be seen.
Now, Taiwan's mobile phone lens manufacturers can still maintain good profits thanks to their technological advantages. In addition, there will be new applications such as under-screen lenses, macro lenses, ToF lenses, etc. in 2020. Taichung's optical cluster will still be promising in 2020.
*Disclaimer: This article is originally written by the author. The content of the article is the author's personal opinion. Semiconductor Industry Observer reprints it only to convey a different point of view. It does not mean that Semiconductor Industry Observer agrees or supports this point of view. If you have any objections, please contact Semiconductor Industry Observer.
Today is the 2152th issue of content shared by "Semiconductor Industry Observer" for you, welcome to follow.
Semiconductor Industry Observation
"
The first vertical media in semiconductor industry
"
Real-time professional original depth
Scan the QR code
, reply to the keywords below, and read more
Semiconductor in China and the United States | AI
| TSMC
| Nvidia
|
ASML
|
RISC-V
|
EDA | Panasonic
Reply
Submit your article
and read "How to become a member of "Semiconductor Industry Observer""
Reply
Search
and you can easily find other articles that interest you!
京公网安备 11010802033920号