The smartphone market will shrink in 2022, impacting image sensor suppliers. However, some have fared better than others, with Sony being the only supplier whose revenue is growing year over year.
And that’s largely thanks to Apple’s camera upgrades on the iPhone 14 series, with the two Pro models sporting a new 48MP sensor for the main camera and a larger 12MP sensor for the ultra-wide camera. The selfie cameras on all four models have also been upgraded with autofocus, with Apple exclusively using Sony sensors. You can see a breakdown by camera type below.
Sony sensors in the last two generations of iPhones (Source: Counterpoint BoM analysis service)
Add it all up and Sony will make an extra $6 per unit in the second half of 2022 for a total of around $300 million. As a final result, Sony will earn his 54% of total revenue for the year, 2021.
Samsung LSI did well on its own, despite a 1% drop in sales share to 29%. The company took full advantage of the high resolution and small pixel size sensor (sub 0.7µm pixels).
Affordable 50MP sensors are so popular that Samsung has shipped an estimated 200 million in 2022. They are used in the main cameras of low-end mobile phones and selfie cameras in higher-end devices. The company still dominates his 100+ million megapixel sensor market and has shipped an estimated 150 million units since launching its first product.
The smartphone image sensor market shrank 6% last year compared to 2021, but total revenue remained above $13 billion. Sony and Samsung account for the majority, with a combined share of 83%.
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