Image Sensor Companies in China

With all eyes on Beijing these days, I decided to put together few words about our colleagues in China.

In 2001 Nanjing Micro One Electronics introduced the first homemade CMOS image sensor in China. However, due to low demand for CMOS image sensors in China and competition from the image sensor market leaders, such as Omnivision, Micro One subsequently withdrew from this market. Today there are 3 companies designing image sensors in mainland China: Superpix, Galaxycore and Rui Xin Microelectronics.

Galaxycore is the oldest one, founded in 2003 and is based in Shanghai.

SuperPix Micro Technology (SPMT) was founded in 2004 and is based in Beijing. In 2006 it brought the first Chinese 2MP chip to the market, reportedly manufactured by Tower.

KunShan RuiXin Microelectronics is the most recent upstart, founded in 2006 by former employees of SMIC and DALSA. Now it's group of 35 engineers, designed 6 sensors.

Thanks to O-A for the information.