Major CMOS image sensor (CIS) suppliers including Samsung Electronics and OmniVision reportedly have been pushing sales of midrange CIS components to Chinese handset brands due to increasing market demand, according to industry sources.
Demand for Sony's high-end CIS has slowed down in the wake of US sanctions against Huawei, a major client for Sony's high-end CIS components, apart from Apple, said the sources.
Sony reportedly is seeking US permission to continue shipping to Huawei.
But the sources indicated that Chinese handset vendors including Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi are currently focusing on rolling out midrange 5G phones to support their bids for more shares in this market segment, prompting CIS makers to supply parts with specs meeting clients' demand.
Xiaomi reportedly has raised significantly the proportion of CIS parts it purchases from Samsung, the sources noted.
This has driven Sony to fine tune its strategy by adjusting its production ratios for premium and mid- to high-end CIS products, said the sources, adding that Sony may also slow down its expansion projects for CIS chips as it watches the market trends in the fourth quarter.
While Taiwan's CIS distributors such as Sunnic Technology and CIS backend service firms including Tong Hsing Electronic, King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) and Xintec believe that the current mainstream multi-lens design for smartphones will remain unchanged, the previous tight capacity at foundry houses and downstream backend service firms for the segment may ease.
However, the sources noted that demand for CIS parts for automotive applications, such as auto-use surround view cameras, will continue to grow steadily.
Article translated by Steve Shen
