Research In China View on the Industry

ResearchInChina: Global CCM market was worth USD16.611b in 2015, a year-on-year rise of 3.8% from 2014, the slowest rate since 2010. The market fell modestly in 2016 due to a drop in shipments of Apple phones that carry CCM with the highest unit price. The market experienced a big rebound in 2017 driven by dual camera, growing by 4.3% to USD17.232b, and is expected to attain USD19.134b in 2021.

CCM is composed of Lens, VCM, IRCF, CIS, DSP and FPC. Among them, CIS, Lens and VCM have the highest value. In the mainstream 13MP camera module, for example, CIS, Lens and VCM make up about 40.6%, 14.3% and 11.3% of total costs, respectively.

CIS: Global CIS market size approximated USD10.516b in 2016, up 5.6% from a year ago, and is expected to grow 4.0% in 2017 and hit USD12.621b in 2021. Sony is an undisputed leader in the market with a market share of about 42% in 2016, followed by Samsung (18%), OmniVision (12%), ON Semi (6%) and Panasonic (3%). The top 3 companies market share was 73% and the top 5 were 82% in 2016. Particularly, almost all 13MP-above products are made by first three vendors, indicating a high market concentration, a trend that is growing.

Optical Lens: Global shipments of lens (front and rear) totaled 3.49 billion pieces in 2016, a year-on-year rise of 7.9%, including 1.64 billion 5P-above lenses, a 19.7% increase from a year ago, far higher than the growth rate of the industry, compared with a continued fall in shipments of 5P-below lens. The world’s shipments of optical lens are expected to reach 3.763 billion pieces in 2021, including 2.728 billion 5P-above lenses, representing a 72.5% market share. Taiwanese LARGAN Precision, a behemoth in the market, shipped 1.15 billion lenses with a market share of 32.9% in 2016. It is expected that, along with hot sales of new-generation iPhone and continuous upgrading of mobile phone lens, LARGAN Precision will seize 34.3% by market share and 16.4% by shipments.

VCM: Global demand for mobile phone VCM was 1.49 billion pieces in 2016 and will climb to 3.2 billion pieces in 2021 at a CAGR of 17.1%, Hundreds of VCM producers are primarily divided into Japanese ones (Alps, Mitsumi Electric, TDK), South Korean ones (Samsung Electric, JAHWA, Hysonic and LG) and Chinese ones (New Shicoh Motor, B.L. Electronics, Hozel Electronics, and Liaoning Zhonglan Electronic Technology). Japanese and South Korean players have advanced technologies and mature processes. As Chinese technology and process for VCM advance, local VCM enterprises, with advantages in price and services, have become more competitive and are expected to break monopoly of Japanese and South Korean counterparts.