Global and China CMOS Camera Module Report, 2013

Research-In-China has updated its "Global and China CMOS Camera Module Industry Report" with 2013 data. A few key statements from the report:

• The growth rate of cell phone camera pixels slows down, or even declines in 2013.
• OIS is widely used in high-end phones: HTC (one), SONY (Xperia ZU), LG (G2 flagship) and Google (Nexus5)
• Tablet PC shipment has shown the signs of touching the ceiling, and its future growth will be sluggish.
• The automotive CCM shipment totaled 24,946,000 sets in 2012 and will grow by 56.4% year on year to 39,008,000 sets in 2013. The shipment is expected to maintain rapid growth, reaching 59,632,000 sets with the increase of 52.9% in 2014. The automotive CCM market is dominated by Panasonic, Sony, Magna, Valeo, MCNEX, Gentex, Fujitsu, Continetal and Autoliv.
• Without taking DSC into account, CMOS camera modules market is about USD13 billion in 2013, up 28.7% from 2012. Themarket is expected to hit USD15.9 billion in 2014, representing a year-on-year increase of 22.3%, mainly because of the adding of higher pixels and more complex features such as OIS.
• At the image sensor market, Omnivision, Samsung and Sony compete with each other fiercely. Sony firmly occupies the high-end market, especially the market of 13MP and bigger pixel size; Omnivision's revenue in FY2013 surged by 56.8% from the figure in FY2012 by virtue of low prices, but with profit sacrifice. Aptina transfers to less competitive non-handset markets.
• Largan almost monopolizes the beyond-8MP lens market. Its gross margin and operating margin jump from 2012 and the revenue is approaching USD1 billion. The revenue of the second-ranked GSEO falls to less than USD350 million in 2013.
• Taiwanese camera module vendors LITEON, PRIMAX and CHICONY are facing weak growth. However, Chinese and South Korean vendors are developing triumphantly, especially South Korea ones. LG INNOTEK has achieved the world's first laureate again, mainly serving Apple whose at least 70% CCM comes from LG INNOTEK. Taiwanese vendors can only snatch Apple's orders for low-end products. SEMCO's revenue soars thanks to Samsung's handset shipment surge; by profit, SEMCO acts as the world's largest CCM vendor.
• Among Chinese mainland vendors, SUNNY witnesses the strongest growth, and its shipment in 2013 is expected to reach 136 million units, doubling that in 2012. Besides, South Korean vendors also push aggressively into Chinese market, for instance, MCNEX is ZTE's largest supplier and Cowell acts as Lenovo's supplier.

Revenue of the Leading Camera Module Vendors
(Unit: US$M)