The Highest Level among Smartphone Cameras
Samsung Electronics will develop a 200-megapixel smartphone camera, the highest level among smartphone cameras. It is expected to be used for the Galaxy S23, which is scheduled to come out next year.
The development of a 200-megapixel smartphone camera by Samsung Electronics’ Wireless Business Division and Samsung Electro-Mechanics reached its final stage. Samsung Electro-Mechanics is Samsung Electronics’ largest smartphone camera module supplier.
Samsung Electronics is developing its own smartphone camera separately from Samsung Electro-Mechanics as part of its component production dualization strategy. It is also producing cameras on its own. In the case of smartphone main camera production, Samsung Electronics accounts for 30 percent and Samsung Electro-Mechanics 70 percent. Samsung Electronics shared a rough roadmap on the development of a 200-megapixel camera with major camera module partners.
Samsung Electronics developed 200 million pixel image sensors first. In 2021, it unveiled the world’s first 200-megapixel mobile image sensor. In order to make a camera, an image sensor that implements the corresponding number of the camera’s pixels is required. An image sensor is a semiconductor that converts light which entered a camera lens into a digital signal. Samsung Electronics is expected to install a 200-megapixel camera in the Galaxy S23 Ultra to be released next year as its main camera. However, it is still unknown whether the Korean smartphone giant made the final decision about loading the Galaxy S23 Ultra with a 200-megapixel camera.
The highest number of pixels in a Samsung smartphone is 108 million of a camera for the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S20 and S21 released in 2020 also have 108-megapixel cameras.
If Samsung applies a 200-megapixel camera to the Galaxy S23 Ultra to be released next year, it will mark the first change in Samsung smartphone camera specifications in four years. As the number of camera pixels increases, a smartphone maker has to boost the performance of key components such as memories, various sensors, lenses, and application processors (APs). Samsung Electronics’ competition with Apple in smartphone cameras will heat up down the road, some experts forecast. Apple plans to release the iPhone 14, which will feature cameras with a quadrupled number of pixels, in the second half of 2022, making a change in camera specifications in seven years.