Magnachip Plans Comeback

EETimes: Magnachip "is putting the finishing touches on its turnaround strategy", including "a major comeback in the CMOS image sensor business".

MagnaChip's CMOS image sensor sales were about $85M in 2007, which ranked them as the world's ninth largest supplier in the area, says Robert Lineback, an analyst with IC Insights Inc. "MagnaChip was well up in the top-5 in the rankings until a few years ago, but they stumbled in the mega-pixel class and above products," he said. "MagnaChip has seen some improvements from its weakening position in 2006, but it still faces stiff, growing competition from the likes of Sony and Samsung, along with OmniVision, which has regained its foothold and took back the top spot in CMOS image sensors in 2007," Lineback said.

As part of its comeback strategy, MagnaChip recently launched a 2.2um, 1/10-inch VGA CMOS image sensor for use in slim mobile phones. In about the same time its major competitors announce 1.4um pixel generation. I wonder how Magnachip can seriously talk about the comeback while being two generations behind the others?