Digitimes: Aptina is gearing up to tap China's white-box handset market with new VGA sensors, according to Digitimes' sources. The company has introduced the VGA CIS A390, which has relatively lower efficiency compared to its A380 or A360 but a more competitive price (the products under these names can not be found on the company's web site). Aptina recently made sample shipments to customers in China, Digitimes' sources indicated.
Aptina used to only take orders for high-end handset products provided by first-tier vendors, but now it decided to go to the lower tiers. On the Chinese market it will compete primarily with Omnivision and SETi.
So they are going to make the stuff in that fab in france and try to sell it in China?
ReplyDeleteAptina uses Micron's fab in Italy and, reportedly, will use another one in Japan.
ReplyDeleteOK, but Fabbing in high cost countries and sending to low cost countries. Not sure how you can make money doing that.
ReplyDeleteWhy Aptina come to low end market so late?
ReplyDeleteI think they are forced to fight now, since their high end market are lost .
Aptina is dead man. They are not going to survive. OVT is going to have them for lunch. And, Toshiba/Samsung are going to smother them at the top end. They are sandwiched in a no-man's land.
ReplyDeleteThat is a pretty strong statement. Why would you put Toshiba and Samsung at the top end? How about Sony? But you are right that it would be interesting to see the battle between OVT and Aptina. My bet is Samsung will rule the mid range mass production market and Sony will rule the high end market. If OVT eat Aptina lunch, guess they wont be at the table for a long time anyway.
ReplyDeleteMicron management royally screwed Aptina by loading it with dumb management team, bloated engineering team and top of that they targeted wrong market segments!
ReplyDeleteThen came TPG in picture. TPG doesn't have any clue how to run fabless company against fierce competitors like Samsung/OVT/Hynix. All TPG want to do is flip Aptina at right moment to make quick money. TPG will dump Aptina IPO stock on dumb (may be bribed!) fund managers, cash out their money and let Aptina die slowly..
FYI.. Big investment banks do sell your company's IPO, for ~7% commission, to mutual funds, insurance companies, public, pension funds.