Analyst: Image sensors end growth run, entering smaller cycles

August 19, 2009: Image sensor sales will decline 11% in 2009 to $6.4B, the first decline in at least 12 years, and after a decade of 22% CAGR will settle into single-digit growth in coming years, according to a new report from Strategies Unlimited.

Like just about everything else, the image sensor sector has been dented by the macroeconomic decline, but the analysis firm says the broader slowdown in growth signals dissipation of a “perfect convergence of forces” that drove rapid growth in image sensors for camera phones. “There will still be growth in unit sales in coming years for image sensors overall, but short-term fluctuations in demand, periods of oversupply and shortage, and severe price pressure will make it more challenging to stay competitive than before,” the analysts write in their report.

Two geographic trends are worth noting. Japan still makes 90% of charge-coupled devices, which dominate digital still cameras and security cameras. But key players are bailing out: Fujifilm stopped producing image sensors for its cameras in 2007, Panasonic has stopped making CMOS arrays for camera phones, and Sony will possibly follow suit. Meanwhile, Korean and Taiwan firms are pushing hard, targeting the Chinese handset market; Samsung surged 61% from 2006-2008, Hynix jumped back into the image sensor market in late 2008, and others including SETi, SiliconFile, and PixArt Imaging are jostling for position.


Image sensor revenue, US $B — visible range area arrays and packaged linear arrays, including captive production. (Source: Strategies Unlimited)

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