Pierre Cambou, Principal Analyst, Technology & Market, Imaging at Yole Développement (Yole) says, “2017 was an excellent year for CMOS image sensors (CIS), with growth observed in all segments except computing.” New applications appear to be driving the CIS market well into the future, so says Yole. In 2017, the market reached $13.9 billion. Yole predicts a 9.4% CAGR between 2017 and 2023, driven mainly by smartphones integrating additional cameras to support functionalities like optical zoom, biometry, and 3D interactions.
Year-over-year growth hit a peak at 20% due to the exceptional increase in image sensor value, across almost all markets, but primarily in the mobile sector. Revenue is dominated by mobile, consumer, and computing, which represent 85% of total 2017 CIS revenue. Mobile alone represents 69%. Security is the second-largest segment, behind automotive.
The CIS ecosystem is currently dominated by Sony, Samsung, and Omnivision. Europe made a noticeable comeback. Meanwhile, the US maintains a presence in the high-end sector. The market has benefited from the operational recovery of leading CIS player Sony, which captured 42% market share. Apple iPhone has had a tremendous effect on the semiconductor industry, and on imaging. It offered an opportunity for its main supplier, Sony, to reach new highs in the CIS process, building on its early advances in high-end digital photography.
The CIS industry can grow at the speed of the global semiconductor industry, which also had a record year, mainly due to DRAM revenue growth. CIS have become a key segment of the broader semiconductor industry, featuring in the strategy of most key players, and particularly the newly-crowned industry leader Samsung. Mobile, security and automotive markets are all in the middle of booming expansion, mostly benefiting ON Semiconductor and Omnivision.
For more details, checkout the Yole report.