Technology, Process and Cost

Camera Module Comparison 2021 Vol. 4 – Huawei P Series Evolution

By Yole SystemPlus — Nov 2021

Huawei P series’ camera design choices and evolution, from the P9 to the P50 Pro.

Overview / Introduction

Executive Summary
Reverse Costing Methodology
Glossary

Companies and Supply Chain

Huawei, Sony, OmniVision, Sunny
Players & Market
Supply Chain

Physical Comparison and Evolution

Camera Overviews
Physical Comparison
Overview of the Physical Analysis

Manufacturing Processes

Camera Module Structure
- Conventional
- Periscope
- IR Filter
Image Sensor Manufacturing Processes
- Back-Side Illumination
- TSV Stacking
- Cu-Cu Hybrid Stacking

Cost Comparison and Breakdown

CMOS Image Sensor
- Front CIS – Front-End Cost Breakdown (P9 through P50 Pro)
- Front CIS – Die Cost Breakdown
- Early Rear CIS – Front-End Cost Breakdown (P9, P10, P20 Pro)
- Early Rear CIS – Die Cost Breakdown
- P30 Pro vs. P40 Pro CIS – Front-End Cost Breakdown
- P30 Pro vs. P40 Pro – CIS Die Cost Breakdown
- P40 Pro vs. P50 Pro – CIS Front-End Cost Breakdown
- P40 Pro vs. P50 Pro – CIS Die Cost Breakdown
Camera Module
- Front Camera Modules – Cost Breakdowns (P9 through P50 Pro)
- Early Rear Camera Modules – Cost Breakdowns (P9, P10, P20 Pro)
- P30 Pro and P40 Pro Rear Camera Modules – Cost Breakdowns
- P40 Pro and P50 Pro Rear Camera Modules – Cost Breakdowns
Rear Camera Module – Cost Breakdowns & Comparisons (P9 through P50 Pro)
Camera Price Comparisons (P9 through P50 Pro)

Detailed Physical Analysis

Front Cameras (P9 to P50 Pro)
Rear Cameras
- P50 Pro
- P40 Pro
- P30 Pro
- P20 Pro
- P10
- P9

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The CMOS camera module industry is on track for $36B in revenue in 2021, up 7.5% from last year. While applications like automotive and computing are growing quickly, the bulk of the market is still represented by smartphone cameras, and this is also where most new technologies enter the market. Huawei is one company at the forefront of this space, and even though its market dominance is under threat by geopolitical tensions and increasingly fierce domestic competition, Huawei’s continued investment and innovation in smartphone photography makes them a benchmark leader that cannot be ignored.

Huawei’s flagship offering is divided into the Mate and P series. The Mate series is often used as a vehicle to be first-to-market with the latest technology, whereas the P series represents the company’s more refined vision of the cutting-edge smartphone photography experience. This doesn’t mean the P series isn’t a powerhouse of innovation – in fact, the P9 was the first smartphone to add a second rear camera module, which had a monochrome sensor to speed up light collection. Moreover, the P20 Pro was the first smartphone to use a quad-Bayer color filter pattern, and Huawei pioneered the ‘Super-Spectrum’ RYBY color filter patterns starting with the P30 Pro, which also incorporated the first smartphone periscope telephoto module. Most recently the P50 Pro, despite supply chain issues, recently debuted at the top of DXOMARK’s smartphone camera rankings by combining many of these technologies.

This report summarizes the results of detailed physical analyses and costing studies to provide insights into the physical and cost evolution of the last six years of Huawei P series cameras. Optical, x-ray, and SEM imaging was used to collect very detailed information about the 23 front and rear photography camera modules in the P9, P10, P20 Pro, P30 Pro, P40 Pro, and P50 Pro. Our analysis includes the structure, lens module, voice coil motor system, and bill of materials of the camera modules, as well as the dimensions, technology nodes, and packaging technologies used in the CMOS image sensors. This allowed us to perform and compare detailed costing simulations of the all the components and estimate the final selling prices of the cameras.

3D sensing modules are not covered.