Status of the CMOS Image Sensor Industry 2023

Key Features

• 2018-2028 forecast for CMOS image sensors (Munits, $M).
• 2011-2028 forecast for wafer production.
• Market trends for mobile devices with historical and statistical analysis.
• Market trends for all other market segments (consumer, automotive, industrial, medical, defense & aerospace) with in-depth analysis.
• Player market share by market segment.
• Player production capacity.
• Noteworthy news from the last three years.
• Technology trends, pixel size, resolution, sensor architecture.
• Roadmap on emerging technologies, SWIR, event-based, low-light.

What's new

• Updated market forecast for each market segment.
• Player ranking update for each market segment.
• Updated wafer production forecast.
• Deeper analysis on technologies.

Product objectives

• To furnish readers with a market-dynamics-based scenario for CMOS image sensor market, providing an understanding of the impact of CMOS imaging technology on the semiconductor industry:
  • CIS revenue forecasts, shipment volume forecasts, ASP forecasts, and wafers production forecast over the 2022-2028 period
  • Technical market segmentation
  • Application range
• To offer key technical insights and analyses into market trends:
  • An understanding of CIS markets and applications (mobile, consumer, computing, automotive, industrial, medical, security, and aerospace/defense)
  • Market and technology dynamics
  • Emerging markets and technologies, trends and roadmaps
• To deliver an in-depth understanding of the company ecosystem:
  • Who are the players? What are their relationships inside this ecosystem?
  • Which are the key suppliers to watch, and what technologies do they provide?
  • CIS player rankings, dynamics, and market share

The CMOS image sensor industry is transitioning to return to steady growth at 5.1%

CIS revenues stagnated in 2022, achieving $21.3B, in the continuity of a soft-landing situation compared to the largely inflated growth experienced in previous years. The general inflation in 2022 translated to significant slowdown in consumer products sales such as smartphones (-10%). However, higher-end CIS products and new sensing opportunities will sustain the mobile CIS market in the coming years. Automotive cameras are experiencing a large growth enabled by in-cabin, viewing, and ADAS applications, promoted further by safety regulations. The share of the mobile CIS market should continue to decrease with respect to the growing share of automotive, security, and industrial CIS, with the resulting product mix maintaining the overall ASP beyond $3. We have adjusted downward our long-term CIS forecast, with a 5.1% revenue CAGR from 2022 - 2028, and the resulting CIS revenues should reach $29B by 2028.

CIS industry leaders are experiencing different fortunes

Sony is again increasing its commanding position, while Omnivision has seen some retreating towards its pre-COVID market share. Samsung also reduced its footprint, apparently to the benefit of SK hynix. onsemi saw an exceptional 2022 boosted by the automotive and industrial markets. Galaxycore and Smartsens have retreated, apparently due to the disinflation of the low-end mobile and security camera markets. The geographical competitive CIS landscape is marked by the economic conflict between the U.S. and China. In the context of the deceleration of the mobile & computing market, and the recent temporary drop in the security CIS market, CIS Chinese suppliers are aiming to decrease their exposure to these markets while gaining market share in the thriving ones that deliver higher value and ASP: automotive and industrial. Overall, there are ongoing investments to either secure capacity or develop in-house technologies as a strategic vision to get further market share.

Towards higher-performance CIS with new features

In the context of a consumer market stagnation, most imaging leaders are making efforts to increase CIS values and performance or orient their product portfolio towards automotive or industrial. The industry is still seeking smaller pixels, higher signal-to-noise ratio, and higher dynamic range, while decreasing power consumption and the physical footprint of the sensor. Sony is introducing its first triple-stack sensor with pixel transistors on a separate layer for its Xperia 1 V smartphone, while Omnivision and STMicroelectronics are also investigating such architectures. For the longer term, a low-cost SWIR imaging segment is emerging to address consumer applications (e.g., tracking cameras, 3D sensing, multispectral imaging). Event-based imaging emerges as a solution for high-speed, low latency, and low-power imaging, as it ensures reasonable data load. Canon will soon introduce its first SPAD-based color camera for very-low light applications.

Report’s objectives

Scope of the report 

About the authors 

Companies cited 

What we got right, what we got wrong 

Who should be interested in the report 

Three-page summary

Executive summary 

Context 

• Where do we find CMOS image sensors?
• Semiconductor & CMOS image sensor industry market dynamics 
• General trends

Market forecasts 

• Looking back at the 2022 CIS market  
• CIS volume shipment forecast 2018-2028
• CIS ASP forecast 2018-2028 
• CIS revenue forecast 2018-2028 
• CIS wafer production forecast 2011-2028
• Market numbers with Yole general segmentation

Market trends

• Mobile 
  • Market dynamics
  • 15 years history in mobile handsets volume and revenues
  • Average number of cameras per mobile handset
  • A brief history of 3D sensing design wins into Mobile OEMs – sensor level
  • Mobile phone volumes distribution
  • Mobile survey analysis
  • New products: higher resolution, higher image quality
• Consumer 
  • More and more image sensors in headsets
• Computing 
• Automotive 
  • Market dynamics
  • Automotive as the new gold rush for the CIS ecosystem
  • Imaging applications by sub-segment
  • A growing number of cameras per car
  • Increasing value of automotive image sensors
• Medical
• Security
  • Market dynamics
  • Security end-system market share evolution analysis from 2018 to 2021
  • The bubble deflated in 2022
• Industrial
• Defense & aerospace

Market share and supply chain  

• Players and rankings  
  • By player, in $M (Yole data)
  • Competitive map of the TOP22 CIS players
  • 2018-2022 TOP 8 CIS companies revenues evolution
  • Mobile, consumer photography, consumer smart IoT, Computing, automotive, medical, security, industrial, defense & aerospace
  • Mobile, Computing, Consumer - 3D imaging and sensing - CIS market share
• CMOS image sensor industry ecosystem
  • 2022 competitive landscape
  • CIS and logic wafer production capacity
  • Foundry investments
  • Noteworthy news from the last three years

Technology trends 

• Pixel size, resolution, optical formats, technology nodes 
  • Current sensor specifications vary largely with respect to target markets
  • Pixel size and technology node roadmap
• In-pixel innovation 
• Sensor architecture and stacking technologies 
  • CIS led the way for 3D integration in semiconductors
  • Triple stack architectures: overview
• Emerging CIS technologies 
  • CIS based SWIR imagers
  • Event-based CIS
  • Low-light imaging
  • Competitive landscape versus emerging technologies
  • A roadmap proposal for emerging imaging technologies

Outlook 

Yole Group related products  

About Yole Group  

AlpsenTek, Amazon Blink, Amazon Echo, Ambarella, Analog Devices, ams, Apple, Arm, Artilux, Axis, BAE Systems, Bosch, Brigates, Brillnics, Broadcomm, BYD, Caeleste, Canon, Celepixel, Clairpixel, Continental, Dahua, DB Hitek, Detection Technology, DJI, Dyson Emberion, Excelitas Technologies, Fastree 3D, Fortsense, Forza Silicon, GalaxyCore, GE Healthcare, Gigajot, GlobalFoundries, Goodix, Google Nest, Gpixel, Hamamatsu, HHGrace, Himax Imaging, Hikvision, HLMC, Honeywell, Honor, Huawei, II-VI, ImagerLabs, Imasenic, IMEC, Infineon, Inivation, Intel, Intel Foundry Services, ISDI, Jiangsu, Ketek, Lenovo, LG, Lumentum, Lumina Technology, Lumentum, Luminar, Lumotive, Magic Leap, Magna, Mantis Vision, Megvii, Meizu, Melexis, Meta, Metalenz, Microsoft, Mobileye, Mojo Vision, Movidius, Moxtek, Nexchip, NILT, Nuvoton, NXP, Olympus, Oneplus, Oppo, Panasonic, Parrot, PixelEXX, PixelPlus, Photolitics, Prophesee, Pyxalis, Qualcomm, Qurv, Rayence, Realme, Redlen, SemiConductor Devices, Sensetime, Sharp, Siemens, Silicon Integrated, Silicon Optronics, Silina, Sionyx, SK hynix, SmartSens, SMIC, Socionext, Soitec, Sony, STMicroelectronics, SWIR Vision Systems, Teledyne, Texas Instruments, Toppan, Toshiba, Tower Semiconductor, TPSCo, Trieye TSMC, UMC, Valeo, Varex Imaging, Visionary AI, Vivo, VoxelSensors, X-Fab, Xiaomi, XMC, Xperi, ZTE, and more.