According to the statistics of professional research institutions, the output value of global CMOS camera modules in 2013 was about 13 billion US dollars, an increase of 28.7% over the previous year. In 2014, it will reach 15.9 billion US dollars, an increase of 22.3%. Mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablet PCs are the main force in this market. Among them, smart phones have accounted for more than 80% of the proportion of camera module shipments. In addition, security surveillance, wearable electronics, automotive cameras and other fields are also growing rapidly. Because such markets still have large profit margins, they are also emerging markets that module manufacturers are striving to explore. .

Industry supply chain faces reintegration
    For the current increasingly competitive mobile phone camera module market, some manufacturers said that the original domestic market was mainly occupied by local large and small module manufacturers, and terminal manufacturers were less involved, but now, the more manufacturers who join such markets More and more companies, including Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese companies, are also stepping up their efforts in the domestic market. For the products with different market positioning, in the trend that the overall module market price is gradually decreasing, the high-end modules mostly increase the added value by improving the product performance, and strive to keep it within a reasonable price range; the low-end modules follow Industry development, while ensuring product quality, promote more products that meet customer needs.

    At the same time, the competition of mobile phone camera module manufacturers is also reflected in the integration of the supply chain. The more prominent is the CMOS sensor. In the past, such suppliers have always been based on foreign brands, especially in the high-end market. SONY, OmniVision, Aptina (acquired by ON Semiconductor) and Samsung are important vendors. Nowadays, with the rapid rise of domestic design, foundry, and packaging and test manufacturers, such as Gecom, BYD, Sibike, SMIC, Jingfang Technology, and Huatian Technology, it is expected to break the original pattern of oligopoly competition. Will bring more benefits to many camera module manufacturers.

    In the VCM voice coil motor, the popularity of the OIS (optical image stabilization) function has brought new development opportunities to a group of related manufacturers. In the market for module manufacturers or mobile phone manufacturers as end customers, the main suppliers of VCM motors include SHICOH, HYSONIC, TDK, Mitsumi, etc. Since the optical image stabilization technology requires the addition of a gyroscope to the original VCM motor, the production difficulty is high. Larger, lower product yield, and less matching driver IC manufacturers, therefore, in the process of rapid evolution of different technology solutions, it is also possible to break the original industry competition. In this field, domestic companies including Jinlong Electromechanical, Bilingual Electronics, Sage Technology and Youhua Micro, etc., are also a technical force that cannot be ignored.

    In addition, although most manufacturers are still waiting to see the adoption of MEMS mechanisms to achieve autofocus, at the end of March this year, Ophelia announced the acquisition of MEMS camera technology patents and related assets of DOC, a US subsidiary of Tessera, and will be committed to promoting the future. Industrialization of MEMS cameras; recently, STMicroelectronics used thin-film piezoelectric (TFP) MEMS technology and partnered with poLight to design an autofocus camera that can simulate the human eye. It is said that the focusing speed is now the VCM motor. At 10 times the battery power consumption is only 1/20 of that, and it is expected that it will achieve mass production by mid-2015. All these indications indicate that with its unique application advantages, the technology has become an important technology reserve for the company in the next phase after continuous breakthroughs and innovation.

Increased competition for pixels and features
    Analysing the current state of application of the market, Ma Liang, deputy general manager of research and development at Truly Opto Semiconductors, concluded that user needs are mainly thin, small, high-pixel, large aperture and a richer photo experience. Taking the mainstream mobile phone with more than one thousand yuan as an example, the front camera has 5 million and 8 million pixel FF specifications, and the rear camera has 8 million and 13 million pixel AF specifications. On the market, domestic mobile phone manufacturers represented by OPPP, VIVO, Meizu, etc. are striving to improve the pixel and function of the camera, giving consumers better photographic effects and customer experience, and other mobile phone manufacturers are also paying more and more attention. The photographic effect of mobile phones has become increasingly fierce in the competition of camera pixels and functions.