Samsung Begins to Supply ISOCELL HP1 to Clients
Samsung Electronics is making a full-fledged move to surpass Sony in the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor market.
After introducing the industry’s first 100-megapixel image sensor in 2019, Samsung Electronics released the world’s first 200-megapixel image sensor ISOCELL HP1 in September 2021. The ISOCELL HP1 is expected to go into the Galaxy S23, which is to be released in 2023. Currently, the highest-level camera in Samsung smartphones uses a 108-megapixel image sensor. Some experts predict that Samsung Electronics will develop a 576-megapixel image sensor which is on a par with the human eye, and launch it on the market around 2025.
Samsung Electronics’ first 200-megapixel image sensor ISOCELL HP1 is expected to go into the rear camera of the Motorola Edge Frontier 22, which will be unveiled soon. Phone Arena, an IT media outlet, said the new image sensor will also be supplied to Xiaomi.
Phone Arena said earlier that Samsung Electronics is additionally developing a next-generation 200-megapixel camera sensor.
The ISOCELL HP1, which has 200 million 0.64μm pixels, is the first based on Samsung Electronics’ proprietary technology, Chameleon Cell. It is a technology that collects light by moving 16 pixels as one in order to receive light in a dark environment. It helps users take bright pictures even at night or in a dark room.
Samsung Electronics is looking to expand its presence in the global image sensor market through the ISOCELL HP1. Currently, Japan’s Sony accounts for about 40 percent of the market, far ahead of Samsung's 22 percent. However, while Sony’s market share recently edged down (1.3 percentage points), Samsung expanded its market share by 0.8 percentage points. China's OmniVision also increased its market share by 2 percentage points to take third place.
Apple is considering using Samsung Electronics’ image sensors for the next iPhone models. Industry watchers forecast that the image sensor for Apple will be produced through a 17nm fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) process. The new process boosts product performance by 39 percent and power efficiency by 49 percent compared to the previous one.