Market and Technology Trends

Status of the Camera Module Industry 2021

By Yole Intelligence — Oct 2021

The spread of the multi-camera approach from mobile phones to cars will continue to drive the CCM industry forward.

What's new

Updated mobile, consumer, automotive camera ASP/revenue forecasts through 2026
Forecast analysis by sub-components
Added scenario for Periscope and OIS/AF market & technology in mobile
Updated multiple-camera, optical fingerprint penetration
Added endoscope and commercial camera market, updated trends for all segments
Technology breakdown by sub-component and new technologies

Glossary and definition 02

Table of contents 03

Report objectives 05

Report scope 06

Report methodology 07

About the authors 08

Companies cited in this report 09

What we got right, what we got wrong 10

Who should be interested by this report 12

Yole Group related reports 13

3 Page Summary 15

Executive Summary 19

Why this report

Context 38

Historical perspective
What’s new? Products launch, collaboration, fundraising
Camera module definition
Scope of the report
Mobile camera module market trend
Cost breakdown by resolution

CCM market forecasts 52

2016 – 2026 volume shipment forecast
2016 – 2026 ASP forecast, by application
2015 – 2025 revenue forecast
CCM market – value breakdown
CCM market forecast analysis

Market shares and supply chain 65

CCM industry – ecosystem
Camera module – supply chain
2020 CCM – revenue market share
CCM market share analysis
2020 sensors for CCM – revenue market share
Sensors for CCM – market share analysis
2020 lenses for CCM – revenue market share
Lenses for CCM – market share analysis
2020 autofocus & OIS for CCM – revenue market share
Autofocus & OIS for CCM – market share analysis
CCM ecosystem analysis

Mobile market trends 87

Mobile phone market trend
Mobile camera market trend
Mobile camera cost trend
Mobile multiple-camera trend
Mobile periscope camera trend
Mobile 3D camera market trend
Mobile optical fingerprint market trend
Mobile camera market trend – analysis

Consumer forecast & market trends 123

Consumer market forecast
Action camera and drone market trend
AR/VR market trend
Smart watch and home devices market trend
Computing and tablet market trend
Consumer camera market trend – analysis

Automotive market trends 144

ADAS glossary
Automotive market trend
Automotive imaging market trend
Automotive image sensor forecast
Automotive 3D imaging – Lidar
Automotive camera market trend – analysis

Medical market trends 159

Commercial market trends 167

Technology trends 172

Image sensor
Optics
IR-cut filter
Connectors
Packaging
Autofocus & OIS
Specific manufacturing equipment

Reverse Costing® – Structure, Process and Cost analyses 200

Smartphone Visible Camera Module
iPad Pro LiDAR Module
Goodix’s Ultra-thin Optical fingerprint

Conclusion 205

Company profiles 207

Yole Corporate presentation 215

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND THE CONFLICT BETWEEN CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES HAVE NOT MUCH AFFECTED THE CONTINUED GROWTH OF THE CCM MARKET IN 2020

After the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, society and enterprise including Compact Camera Module (CCM) industry were temporarily suspended, but swift action was taken, and CCM industry quickly recovered. The conflict between China and the US led to Huawei being banned and not being able to
purchase any key chips for the production of mobile phones. However, the CCM industry as a whole was not much affected in 2020.
The multi-camera approach in mobile not only increases photography functions (such as macro, telephoto etc.) but also greatly improves the photographic effects. As a result, the multiple-camera strategy is applicable in most of smartphones, resulting in an increase in the number of mobile CCMs to increase from 4.9B to 5.4B units from 2019 to 2020, a Yearover- Year (YoY) growth of 10.4%.
From imaging to sensing, the 3D camera could be in the front or rear (the front also includes optical fingerprint recognition), it will positively affect the developmental direction of the multicamera approach in mobile phones.
The automotive market started with rear imaging and has now developed to 360 surround-view, going from one camera to at least four even more. The autonomous driving is also increasing the need for more cameras. In addition, cars also need in-cabin cameras, as well as cameras to replace rearview mirrors. They are the next wave of CCM market.
In the consumer sector, products are becoming intelligent – connected to everything – allowing vision to play a more significant role in applications such as robots and home surveillance cameras. These will need more cameras.
Yole Développement expects the revenue of the global camera module to expand from $34B in 2020 to $59B in 2026, at a 9.8% CAGR.

THE CCM INDUSTRY HAS ABUNDANT CAPACITY, AND THE INDUSTRY IS MOVING TOWARDS CENTRALIZATION

From CCM sub-components to CCM manufacturing, there are numerous players in this industry. Such as the upstream CMOS image sensor players, lens suppliers, or the CCM manufacturers themself, where the leading companies dominate the market.
The image sensor is the most critical component in the module. The players are the market leaders in the industry’s supply chain, leading the market to increase pixel numbers and size. Samsung has done an excellent job in this area, taken the lead in launching products with a small pixel size (0.64um) and high resolution (200Mp). Sony continues to maintain the balance between a big format and pixel size to deliver performance products, thus retaining its No. 1 position. OmniVision is deeply engaged in the Chinese market, expanding it with its advantage of being a Chinese enterprise. It had very good profit results in 2020. According to Yole’s analysis, these top 3 players combined already had around 74% market share.
The lens is the next key component, following closely behind the CIS. As with the image sensor, the top 3 players also have about 76% of the market.
In recent years, the cost of raw material and labor has risen, limiting the potential for high profit of CCM manufacturers. For this reason, CCM manufacturers are now actively integrating vertically, to develop the sub-components such as the upstream lens or AF/OIS actuators for better margins and initiative in product development.
The multi-camera configuration enables lowresolution camera modules, as well as rapidly growing consumer electronics, such as AR&VR, robotics, and smart home devices, they required machine-vision-oriented cameras and relatively low, leaving some room outside of the leading companies. New entrants, such as GalaxyCore in CIS, SPY in lenses, and Hozel in actuators, are benefiting and gradually making their mark in the industry.
Meanwhile, the new energy/autonomous vehicle market is booming and continues to increase the demand for cameras. Although the threshold to
enter this market is relatively high, it is attractive and has excellent prospects, and more players will join and compete.

THE CCM IS A VERY PRECISE OPTOELECTRONIC COMPONENT THAT INCLUDES MANY OPTICAL AND ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGIES, WITH MANY INNOVATIONS ON THE WAY

Mobile phone cameras are mainly for photography. To enable the development of mobile cameras for professional photography, CCM manufacturers
and mobile phone players have introduced a variety of camera technologies.
Functional requirements of photography focus on wide-angle and telephoto cameras. Wide-angle cameras require large format CIS, large aperture
and low distortion lens, while telephoto cameras require periscope lens. From tele to wide, mobile phone cameras will develop continuous optical
zoom, which is one of the future developmental directions of CCM technology.
Of course, there are other technologies to improve photography, like OIS, which has changed from lens-shift to sensor and moduleshift, improving the angle and frequency of the OIS. Sensor-shift technology was introduced by Apple on the iPhone 12 Pro. Due to its advantage, Android phone players are actively developing it, and are expected that their phones with sensorshift will be released next year.
There are more technological innovations in optics, such as the gradual adoption of glass, or free-form, or even liquid lenses. Liquid lenses are small enough to focus quickly and can also be formatted for macro and telephoto. As everyone know, Xiaomi Fold has already introduced liquid lenses successfully.
Mobile phones look for a perfect full display while requiring an under-display camera, which is also one of the developmental trends for cameras. This
has largely been successfully implemented and will accelerate adoption.
Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro has introduced a dToF 3D sensing camera, taking the industry’s 3D sensing development one step further. We believe that in the future, more 3D sensing technology will be adopted in mobile phones, robots, smart home devices, and even cars.
This latest edition of Yole’s popular report offers you key insights for navigating the upgraded camera module market.

Key features

Camera Module market forecast (in Munits) through 2026
Camera Module market forecast (in $M) through 2026
Camera Module ecosystem mapping and breakdown
Camera Module application trends - mobile & consumer, automotive, endoscopy, and commercial.
Camera Module Technology trends – Image sensor / Lens set / Actuator / Camera module assembly

Report objectives

Ecosystem identification and analysis:

Determination of the application range
Technical market segmentation
Market trends and forecasts
Key players, by market with analysis

Analysis and description of markets and technologies involved:

Detailed applications by market segment
Major global actors
Technology trends
Main technical challenges

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