1. Core chip of camera - CMOS image sensor
CMOS image sensor (CIS) is a chip that converts photons into electrons for digital processing and image signals into digital signals. It is mainly used to create images in digital cameras, digital closed-circuit television cameras and digital video cameras. It is a key component of digital cameras. As the functions of the camera include photographing, video recording, image recognition, identity verification, etc., digital products require higher and higher performance of CMOS image sensors. Generally, CMOS image sensor is mainly composed of four components: microlens, color filter (CF), photodiode (PD), and pixel design.
CMOS image sensor has good signal conversion capability, which can convert charge into voltage directly in the pixel. Its performance exceeds that of traditional CCD sensor. At present, mainstream cameras use CMOS sensor for signal conversion, and CMOS sensor is also widely used in smart phones, digital cameras, automatic driving, security, IOT and other fields.
2. Stable growth of the market and high degree of industrial monopoly
With the upgrading of smart phone cameras and the rapid growth of the automobile market, the global CMOS image sensor market continues to grow. In 2021, the sales of CMOS image sensors in the city will be 21.3 billion US dollars, with a year-on-year growth of 2.89%. Affected by the epidemic in 2021 and the downturn of the mobile phone market, the growth of CMOS image sensor demand will slow down. However, with the recovery of the consumer market in the second half of 2022 and the corresponding recovery of electronic demand, the growth of CMOS image sensor market will recover to about 8%. It is estimated that the global CMOS image sensor market size will be 29 billion dollars in 2025.
From the perspective of downstream applications, the largest market of CMOS image sensors is mobile cameras at present. In 2021, the market share of CMOS image sensors in mobile phones will reach 75.9%, which is mainly due to the development of mobile camera towards high resolution and multi cameras in recent years. Now there are 3-5 cameras in high-end computers, and there is a large demand for CMOS. From the perspective of market growth, the automobile market has the fastest growth. In 2021, the automobile CMOS market rate has reached 11.7%. With the increase in the penetration rate of electric vehicles and the development of intelligent driving, the use of single vehicle CMOS sensors is also growing significantly. It is expected that the vehicle camera will be the main driving force for the growth of the CMOS market in the next five years.
CMOS image sensors are still in a stage of rapid development in China. In 2021, the sales of domestic CMOS image sensors will be 29.54 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19%, significantly faster than the global growth. It is estimated that the domestic CMOS image sensor market will reach 51.65 billion yuan by 2024, a growth rate of 20%.