Suffering from Success - Despite stagnating mobile phone sales, camera count increases overwhelm Sony

[rcmaehl]

Sources:
Engadget
Bloomberg (quote source)

 

Summary:
Sony, manufacturer for the camera sensors found in the top 5 most popular brands (Apple, Samsung, Vivio, Hauwei, and Oppo) and several other devices from leading brands, is unable to keep up with camera sensor demands, and has had to repeatedly turn down orders.

 

Media:
 

 

Quotes/Excerpts:

Quote

Sony...is working around the clock to manufacture its...image sensors, but even a 24-hour operation hasn’t been enough. For the second straight year, the Japanese company will run its chip factories constantly through the holidays to try and keep up with demand. “ The electronics giant is more than doubling its...spending on the business...this....year and is also building a new plant in Nagasaki that will come online in April 2021. Judging by the way things are going, even after all that investment in expanding capacity, it might still not be enough,”  “We are having to apologize to customers because we just can’t make enough.”  It’s now common to see three lenses on the back of a phone. The latest models from Samsung...and Huawei....boast resolutions in excess of 40 megapixels, can capture ultrawide-angle images and come with depth sensors. Apple...joined the fray with a triple-camera iPhone 11 Pro. That’s why even as smartphone market growth plateaus, Sony’s sales of image sensors continue to soar. “The camera has become the biggest differentiator for smartphone brands and everyone wants their social media pictures and videos to look nice,” Semiconductors are now Sony’s most profitable business after the PlayStation. Sony in May said it controls 51% of the image sensor market...and is targeting a 60% share by...2025. Sony’s portion of the pie grew by a few percentage points this year alone.

 

My Thoughts:

Looks like some other players need to hop into the camera sensor field *coughApplecough* if they want to be able to keep up with phone manufacturing goals. All 5 top brands are affected. Samsung is probably the least affected since they have their own camera sensors (among dozens of other components). In all honestly, when demand basically triples in a short period of time, there's not much you can do.

[suicidalfranco]

2020 year of the 10 camera modules in 1 phone

[rcmaehl]

25 minutes ago, VegetableStu said:

Sony: eff this noise, cameras now cost 10x more.

 

Everyone: 2020 year of the super-processed single camera

Apple: hay hay meet iPhone 12 with 5 cameras

2025: Apple removes Cameras from iPhone and releases the AirCamera for $160.
2040: Apple releases featureless phone, fanatics claim Apple did it first despite the NoPhone existing decades before.

[Doobeedoo]

Well, I want to see their new flagship though. 

[That Franc]

I still dream of Sigma getting their shit together and pushing Foveon forward again.

[rcmaehl]

42 minutes ago, That Franc said:

I still dream of Sigma getting their shit together and pushing Foveon forward again.

Foveon is like a stacked sensor instead of a "pixelated" sensor from what I understand from 10 seconds of googling?

[Zodiark1593]

8 hours ago, rcmaehl said:

Foveon is like a stacked sensor instead of a "pixelated" sensor from what I understand from 10 seconds of googling?

Under studio conditions, a Foveon sensor produces some extremely impressive results. Straying outside of very well lit scenes can reveal the shortcomings of the Foveon sensor however.

 

For smartphones, a Foveon sensor would further worsen the already poor low light capability of phone sensors.

[That Franc]

9 hours ago, rcmaehl said:

Foveon is like a stacked sensor instead of a "pixelated" sensor from what I understand from 10 seconds of googling?

Yeah, except it's kind of underdeveloped, and is only found in a limited range of cameras. Photographers believe that with enough money poured into research, it can be improved very significantly, but it would appear that the parent company isn't interested in that (or lacks the money).

 

But yeah, each "pixel" in a Foveon sensor consists of three layers stacked on top of each other, and captures full colour, so ideally each pixel in an image has a true colour value instead of approximated as it has to be with normal Bayer filter sensors, which results in razor sharp images. In reality, physics stands in the way, and Foveons don't perform great in certain conditions which limits the appeal. (I still want a Foveon camera regardless, maybe not as my main one)