BSI Sensor Shipments to Reach 33.4M This Year, BSI Adoption Driven by iPhone 4

iSuppli: Shipments of BSI sensors for mid- to high-end smart handsets are projected to reach 33.4 million units in 2010, up from virtually nil last year. The market will continue to post sizable increases during the next four years and rise almost tenfold to over 300 million units by 2014, consumer electronics research from iSuppli indicates.

“With Apple tending to shape trends, handset OEMS are likely to follow suit and incorporate enhanced cameras with BSI image sensors,” said Pamela Tufegdzic, analyst for consumer electronics at iSuppli. “BSI sensors will first see utilization in high-end mobile handsets, and then gradually make their way into the camera phones of lower-cost feature handsets as the price of BSI sensors comes down.”

By 2014, approximately 75 percent of mid- to higher-end smart phones will include BSI sensors—a huge leap from the 14 percent projected for the end of this year, she noted.

The startling growth of BSI sensors is completely in line with the robust, double-digit expansion projected this year for the overall area image sensor market as it recovers from the economic downturn and also penetrate new applications. Area image sensor shipments in 2010 will hit 1.7 billion units, up 20 percent from 1.4 billion units in 2009, with revenue during the same period climbing to $6.9 billion, up from $5.9 billion.

The fortunes of CCDs continue to decline, iSuppli’s consumer electronics research shows. By 2014, CCD sensor shipments will be off by nearly half of their levels in 2008, with the market inexorably heading in the direction of CMOS image sensors.