SK Hynix reorganizes CMOS image sensor team to focus on high-end products

CTOnews.com, January 28, according to TheElec, SK Hynix has reorganized its CMOS Image Sensor (CIS) team to shift its focus from expanding market share to developing high-end products.

Its CIS team was a single organization before the change, but the company has now created sub-teams that focus on the specific functions and features of image sensors. Overall, the team is now more like a research and development team than a sales and marketing team.

CIS is widely used in smartphones and IT products because of its camera function.

CTOnews.com learned that Sony is the world's largest maker of CIS components, followed by Samsung. The two companies focus on high resolution and versatility, together controlling 70% to 80% of the market share. Sony is the overwhelming leader, with about 50% of the market.

SK Hynix has a small scale in this field and used to focus on low-end CIS with a resolution of 20MP or less.

However, SK Hynix began supplying its CIS to Samsung in 2021. It provides 13MP CIS for Samsung folding screen phones and 50MP sensors for the Galaxy A series last year.

Still, overall demand for CIS has fallen in recent years as smartphones that mainly use CIS are suffering from a slowdown in demand.

This is particularly distressing for mid-range phones, whose unit prices have fallen due to sluggish consumer demand.

In view of this, SK Hynix has been reducing its CIS production as well as inventory, the source said.