Source: The content is compiled by Semiconductor Industry Watch (icbank) from Bloomberg
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Even though Sony is working around the clock to manufacture its image sensors, demand is still outstripping supply, according to Bloomberg.
The Japanese company will operate its chip factories during the holidays for the second year in a row in an effort to meet demand for sensors used in mobile phone cameras, said Terushi Shimizu, head of Sony's semiconductor division.
The electronics giant will more than double capital spending on its operations to 280 billion yen ($2.6 billion) this fiscal year, and it will also build a new plant in Nagasaki that will come online in April 2021.
“From the perspective of how things are going, even after all the investments in expanding capacity, CMO image sensors still may not be enough,
”
Terushi Shimizu said in an interview at the company’s Tokyo headquarters.
“We have to apologize to our customers because we can’t meet all their needs.
”
It’s now common to see three lenses on the back of a phone, largely because manufacturers tend to lean on camera specs to entice customers to upgrade.
The latest models from Samsung Electronics Co. and Huawei Technologies Co. boast resolutions of more than 40 megapixels, can capture ultra-wide-angle images and come with depth sensors.
Apple Inc. joined the pack this year with the triple-camera iPhone 11 Pro.
That’s why Sony’s image sensor sales continue to soar even as smartphone market growth stagnates.
“The camera has become the biggest differentiator among smartphone brands, and everyone wants their social media pictures and videos to look good,
”
said Masahiro Wakasugi, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
“Sony is riding that wave of demand very well.
”
Semiconductors are Sony's most profitable business after PlayStation.
The company also raised its operating income forecast for the chip division by 38% to 200 billion yen in the year ending March 2020, after a nearly 60% increase in second-quarter profit.
Sony forecasts that its semiconductor division's revenue will rise 18% to 1.04 trillion yen, of which image sensors will account for 86%.
The company has also been plowing a lot of its profits back into the business, planning to invest about 700 billion yen ($6.4 billion) in the three years to March 2021.
Much of the spending will go toward increasing monthly capacity at its Japanese factories,
where Samsung is Sony’s biggest rival,
to 138,000 wafers from about 109,000 now.
The South Korean giant said in its most recent earnings call that it is also increasing production to meet demand, which it expects to remain strong "for quite some time."
Sony said in May that it controls 51% of the image sensor market as measured by revenue and plans to reach 60% market share by fiscal 2025.
Shimizu estimates that Sony's share has grown by several percentage points this year alone.
Like many of the key technological breakthroughs of the late 20th century, from transistors to lasers and photovoltaic cells, the image sensor was invented at Bell Labs.
But it was Sony that succeeded in commercializing the so-called charge-coupled device.
Its first product was installed in 1980 in the "electronic eye" on All Nippon Airways jumbo jets, projecting images of landing and takeoff from the cockpit.
Vice president Kazuo Iwama was key to Sony's first decade of growth in this business, but he died in 1985 before successfully developing the camcorder business.
Kazuo Iwama's tombstone bears a CCD sensor to commemorate his contribution.
Sony is now working on a new generation of sensors that can see the world in three dimensions.
The company uses a method called "time of flight," which sends out invisible laser pulses and measures how long they take to bounce back to create a detailed depth model.
This can help mobile cameras create better portrait photos by more accurately choosing which backgrounds to blur out, and it can also be applied to mobile games, where virtual scenes can realistically show virtual characters interacting with real-world environments.
If used on the front of the phone, the TOF sensor can capture gestures and facial motion for animated avatars.
Samsung and Huawei have already launched flagship models with 3D sensors.
Apple is rumored to introduce 3D cameras to its lineup in 2020.
Shimizu declined to comment on specific customers but said Sony is ready to meet its expectations that demand will grow significantly next year.
“This is year zero for time of flight,
”
Shimizu said
.
“Once you start seeing interesting applications for this technology, it will inspire people to buy new phones.
”
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