A report by IC Insights says the market for CMOS sensors is booming because of the growth of camera phones and digital cameras, but VGA sensors are surprisingly strong because of the continued appeal for low-end camera phones, according to Electronic News, that published the press release.
“In a statement announcing the report, the firm said that the proliferation of mobile camera phones and the switch from film to digital photography has increased image sensor revenues by a cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) of 62 percent per year between 2001 and 2005,” the article says.
“Unit volume has skyrocketed by a 112 percent CAGR in the same timeframe, the firm said.”
VGA rules
Although CMOS image sensor manufacturers are focusing on sensors of three megapixels and higher, the cheap — under $70 — camera phone continues to stimulate demand for VGA sensors, the report, “2006 Optoelectronics, Sensor/Actuator, and Discrete (O-S-D),” notes.
This has surprised the manufacturers who didn’t expect the demand and prefer to produce more profitable higher-resolution sensors. However, the situation will change this year.
The article says that “in 2006, 1.3 megapixel CMOS image sensor sales will finally overtake VGA-resolution devices in camera phones — 45 percent versus a surprisingly strong 40 percent, respectively, the firm said” (see below). 
It would be interesting to know the percentages based on region: United States, Europe and Asia.
Sweet spot
IC Insights says the “sweet spot” for the 2.5G and 3G camera phones are sensors of three megapixels and five megapixels. But it will take one or two years before those higher-resolution sensors begin affecting the market.
My view is the sooner VGA — and the crummy photos it produces — dies, the better. In fact, I’ve changed my mind and now think the three megapixel camera phone, not the one megapixel — as I previously thought — would be more of a significant turning point.
As I’ve also written, higher-resolution sensors are just one part of the components equation necessary to produce high quality images.
Camera phones typically have poorer quality components compared to digital cameras which is a major reason digital camera images with the same resolution look so much better, such as the really poor images of the first 1.3 megapixel camera phone in the U.S. that I tested in the summer and fall of 2004 (see below).
CMOS overshadows CCDs
CMOS sensors [typically, but not always, offering poorer quality images] continue to gain market share against CCDs because of their use in camera phones and “the ability to integrate more circuit functions with pixel arrays on a single chip,” IC Insights says.
This year, CMOS sensors will account for more than 60 percent of the image sensor market, compared to 45 percent in 2003.
IC Insights forecasts that CMOS image sensors will capture more than 80 percent of revenues and more than 90 of the number of units sold in 2008.
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