Digitimes sources say that Sony efforts to penetrate automotive imaging market are to start to bear fruits in 2018:
"Sony is looking to allocate more of its available production capacity for CIS for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and other automotive electronics applications in a move to gradually shift its focus from smartphones and other mobile devices, said the sources. Currently, about half of Sony's CIS capacity is being reserved by the world's first-tier handset vendors.
Mobile devices remain the largest application for CIS, but self-driving vehicles have been identified by CIS suppliers as the "blue ocean" and will overtake mobile devices as the leading application for CIS, the sources indicated. CIS demand for ADAS will be first among all auto electronics segments set to boom starting 2018, the sources said."
While I don't doubt that automotive is the next blue ocean I don't think Sony's superiority will be as valued as it is in the mobile market. In Mobile the camera is a leading feature and there are many comparisons and reviews which highlight the small differences for consumers. I can't see motor reviews doing the same. Here meeting minimum functionality and cost is all that is important and there are far more players in that sphere. Sony would have to leverage volume and cost to get into the market and profits would not be the same.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure Sony has a strong global shutter architecture in the NIR space compared to other competitors, hence they're behind the curve at least for now.
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