Focusing on Image Sensors
SK Hynix is seeking to expand its non-memory semiconductor business, with the focus on image sensors.
"I am confident that CMOS image sensors (CISs) will be a pillar of SK Hynix's growth along with DRAMs and NAND flashes," said Song Chang-rok, vice president of SK Hynix's CIS business, in an interview with SK Hynix Newsroom on Oct. 12. "The next goal is to join the leaders’ group."
Although SK Hynix is a latecomer, it aims to strengthen its R&D capabilities for image sensors and improve productivity early to join the leaders of the high-pixel image sensor market.
CISs convert the colors and brightness of light received through a lens into electrical signals and transmit them to processing devices. The CIS market is growing fast.
Currently, Sony and Samsung Electronics are the leaders of the CIS market, with a combined market share of about 80 percent. SK Hynix, Omni Vision, and Galaxy Core are competing for the remaining 20 percent.
“Technology gaps become meaningless when the market undergoes big changes,” Song said. “Competition factors will change from process technologies such as miniaturization to peripheral technologies such as information sensors and intelligence sensors.”
Meanwhile, the CIS market will grow 7.3 percent annually from US$19.9 billion in 2021 to US$26.3 billion in 2025, market research firm Gartner said in June. During the same period, the overall semiconductor market is expected to grow 4.0 percent annually and the memory semiconductor market 4.1 percent.