The CMOS image sensor (CIS) market will see compound annual growth of 10 per cent between 2013 and 2018 reaching US$13 billion by 2018, according to a new report from Yole Développement.
The report foresees consumer applications driving growth in the CIS market over the next five years. This is the opposite of the previous five years, which were driven almost exclusively by mobile applications.
After being dominated by CCD, DSC applications are now shifting towards CMOS. And while DSLR will be a substitution market, the next wave is likely to be automotive applications, which could become CIS’ third big market, according to the report.
Other emerging applications also set to drive CIS’ future growth include wearable electronics, machine vision, security and surveillance, and medical applications. These applications are likely to show strong growth in the mid and long-term.
On the technology side, the move towards smaller pixels in CIS to achieve better resolution also leads to pixel performance degradation due to the degradation of signal-to-noise ratio and well capacity. So, to cope with loss of resolution coupled with pixel size reduction, heavy process and design innovations are necessary to move to advanced pixel technology while keeping high sensitivity, according to the report.
