Sony reaches 20 billion image sensors sold, doubles shipments in five years
Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing, the company that makes image sensors for smartphone cameras, announced it reached 20 billion shipped image sensors since it started making transistors in the 1980s.
President Yoshihiro Yamaguchi told Nikkei Asia that mobile devices were the main reason for the huge number, which doubled from 10 to 20 billion in just five years between 2019 and 2024.
The accelerated rate of shipments was also due to the increased number of cameras in smartphones. We started seeing dual-camera smartphones in 2016 and 2017, and today, four-camera devices are common across the price spectrum.
The executive disclosed that the semiconductor division operates three plants located in Kumamoto, Nagasaki, and Oita. While the Nagasaki and Oita plants are focused on developing the ISP for mobile devices, the entire business is also eager to supply sensors for in-vehicle devices, smart factories, smart ICT cameras, laser devices, and data centers.