SK hynix reorganized the CIS team to focus on high-end products

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Earlier this month, Omdia’s latest market research report shows that Sony continues to dominate the global CMOS image sensor (CIS) market, with sales of $2.442 billion in the third quarter of last year and a market share of 51.6%. Samsung ranks second with a market share of 45.6%, followed by OmniVision (9.7%), ON Semiconductor (7%), and STMicroelectronics (4%). In addition, SK Hynix, which is rarely mentioned, ranks sixth, with a market share of 3.8%, and has a chance to enter the top five.

According to The Elec, SK Hynix seems to intend to make efforts in the CMOS image sensor market and has reorganized its development team to shift the focus of expanding its market share to high-end products. In the past, SK hynix’s CMOS image sensor development team was a single organization, but now separate sub-teams focusing on specific functions and characteristics of image sensors have been created.

Some insiders said that SK Hynix’s current CMOS image sensor development team is more like a research and development team than a sales and publicity team. CMOS image sensors are widely used in smartphones and IT products, and SK Hynix has traditionally been a small player focusing on low-end products with 20MP or lower resolution. SK Hynix has started supplying CMOS image sensors to Samsung, such as those used in the Galaxy A series, starting in 2021.

Due to the impact of the economic recession and the sluggish demand for consumer electronics, the market demand for CMOS image sensors has declined, and the pressure mainly comes from smartphones. It is especially painful for suppliers targeting mid-range models, and the unit price will also drop as a result. It is rumored that SK Hynix has been reducing the output of image sensors recently while reducing its inventory.

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