CMOS Image Sensors Intelligent Driving "For Everyone" Sweeps the Market in China

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Whether it's a smartphone, surveillance camera, or electric vehicle, nothing works without CMOS image sensors. In China, the rapidly increasing demand is leading to record sales for domestic manufacturers like Will Semiconductor and Smartsens, while Western suppliers are struggling to keep up.

Anything that can be called "smart" today certainly includes a CMOS image sensor. This applies to smartphones as well as "smart electric vehicles." Accordingly, the revenues and profits of Chinese CIS companies, as these manufacturers are abbreviated, are currently skyrocketing.

Will Semiconductor (Omnivision), which has just released its latest financial report, announced a revenue increase of more than 22 percent for 2024, reaching approximately 25.7 billion yuan (about €3.2 billion). The net profit even rose by more than 498 percent. The smaller company Smartsens was able to increase its revenue by more than 100 percent last year, with its net profits soaring by over 2,600 percent. Other Chinese companies in the industry are experiencing similarly positive trends.

The strong demand for high-performance image sensors in cell phones and cars is primarily responsible for this boom, say market observers in China. However, ever more powerful CMOS image sensors for ever higher resolutions are also needed in surveillance cameras.

Technology for Smart Mobility

While cars, predominantly e-cars and hybrids, but recently also modern combustion engines, are rapidly becoming "smarter" in China, the average number of CMOS image sensors per vehicle has risen from two to ten in a short space of time - and the trend is rising. This is due to functions such as autopilot on the highway and in the city, level 2 and 3 ADAS driving assistance, as well as intelligent cockpits including attention monitoring for drivers, or even parking assistance when reversing.

The upper segment of the market is still dominated by Japanese, South Korean and other foreign manufacturers. However, the recent announcement by Chinese e-car manufacturer BYD that its "God's Eye" autopilot will also become standard in its most affordable models has almost emptied the CMOS image sensor market. The trade press is already talking about the first bottlenecks, particularly for CMOS image sensors in the 8-megapixel range.

Market Niche Discovered

As so often in the past, Chinese companies are once again skillfully exploiting such a situation. While products from the global market leader On Semiconductor (Onsemi) from Scottsdale in the US state of Arizona are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain and more expensive, Chinese competitors such as Will Semiconductor or Smartsens are able to expand their market share with cheaper but increasingly high-quality products. Chinese companies have overtaken Onsemi as the global market leader, at least in the automotive segment. While more and more cars in China with a purchase price of less than 200,000 yuan (around 25,000 euros) are now being equipped with intelligent sensor technology, demand for the cheaper Chinese products is growing ever faster.

One example of a product that is in high demand is the new "5MP automotive-grade sensor" (SC530AT) from Smartsens, which according to discussions still delivers relatively clear images even in poor lighting conditions, for example in underground parking garages. Meanwhile, in the cell phone market, Chinese manufacturers Omnivision and Galaxycore with their CMOS image sensors are quickly catching up with Sony, which is currently still the global market leader.

Galaxycore, for example, was able to increase its turnover by a whopping 34% last year alone and is now in second place worldwide after Sony, followed by Omnivision, reports the Chinese trade portal Kuai Keji. While demand for "smart" household appliances, car cockpits, cell phones, robots and IoT devices continues to rise, the forecasts for suppliers of CMOS image sensors remain good for the coming years. From more than USD 22 billion last year, the global market for CIS is expected to grow to more than USD 30 billion by 2029, according to an industry report. (sb)

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