Sensor shipments for handset camera lens are expected to drop further in the second quarter of 2020, due to a plunge in end-market demand and excess inventory in the supply chain, according to industry sources.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an adverse impact on end-market demand, said the sources. Channel distributors had significantly built up their inventory levels, judging from the previously-anticipated demand boom. The commercialization of 5G networks was supposed to trigger a new wave of prosperity in the global smartphone sector.

However, smartphone sales worldwide have been hit hard by the pandemic so far this year. Demand for related chips and components, including lens sensors, has been affected as well and is under further downward pressure due to the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak, the sources indicated.

Handset camera lens suppliers and assemblers have started experiencing cutbacks in customer orders in April, the sources noted. Shipments of handset-use lens sensors are set to disappoint in the second quarter, but should still register an on-year increase in all of 2020.

According to Sigmaintell, worldwide shipments of handset lens sensors are forecast to increase about 5% to five billion units in 2020. Shipments totaled around 1.41 billion units in the first quarter, with those for smartphones reaching 1.29 billion units.