Abstract
In 2001, Chinese IC design house Nanjing Micro One Electronics introduced the ME1002, the first homemade CMOS image sensor in China. However, due to low demand for CMOS image sensors in China and competition from leading IC design firms such as OmniVision, Pixelplus, and Transchip, Micro One subsequently withdrew from this market. Recently, the Chinese government's support for the development of the IC industry and the growing demand for CMOS image sensors used in camera phones and PC cameras has led China's Galaxycore and SuperPix Micro to move into CMOS image sensor development. SuperPix even inked a supply deal with China's mobile phone design house TechFaith Wireless. This report will examine the current state of the Chinese CMOS image sensor industry.
Chinese CMOS image sensor design firms SuperPix Micro and Galaxycore were both founded by Chinese who had previously worked or studied overseas, and both companies have a close collaborative relationship with Chinese IC foundry SMIC. In the camera phone market, SuperPix Micro and Galaxycore face intense competition from leading European and American IC suppliers such as OmniVision, Pixelplus, and Transchip, while in the optical mouse market they face competition from Taiwanese companies such as PixArt, ElecVision, and TASC. Handicapped by their small size and limited range of products, the Chinese CMOS image sensor design houses have targeted customers and products that are different from its competitors.
As regards their product positioning, while the applications for the Chinese CMOS image sensor design houses' products include mobile phones, PCs, and DSCs, they have focused mainly on the value-line camera phone market.
Most Chinese mobile phone makers have only limited R&D and product development capabilities. MicroOne Electronics and Galaxycore have therefore joined forces with mobile phone design houses to offer a total solution. MicroOne Electronics' main mobile phone design house customer is TechFaithWireless, which in turn supplies leading Chinese and international handset vendors.
Appendix
List of Companies
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Fujitsu |
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Galazycore |
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格科微電子 |
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GinFax |
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Nanjing Micro One Electronics |
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南京微盟電子 |
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OmniVision |
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Pixelplus |
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SuprePix Micro |
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思比科微電子 |
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TechFaithWireless |
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德信無線 |
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Transchip |
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Vimicro |