Micron Technology has taken the early lead in the CMOS image sensor business over its rivals, including memory giant Samsung Electronics.

In fact, Micron has won design wins for its image sensors at Samsung.

“Micron has rapidly become the largest manufacturer of CMOS image sensors by revenue and has higher margins than any public company which reports image sensors as a business,” said Doug Freedman, an analyst with American Technology Research Inc.

“In addition to being the largest CMOS image producer, Micron is growing 40 percent quarter-over-quarter compared with Omnivision, which reported 2-3 percent growth,” he said.

Micron is two generations ahead with respect to process technology, as it is developing products based on 0.15-micron geometries, the analyst said. The company is five generations ahead of the competition with regard to pixel size.

“Approximately a month ago a top Samsung image sensor executive claimed publicly that it would not be possible to produce an image sensor with pixel size at .2,” the analyst said. “Within a week of this view, Micron announced it could produce at .17 pixel size.”

In fact, competitor Samsung is among Micron's largest image sensor customers. Samsung also sells image sensors as well. “Our checks indicate that Micron won several design wins a month ago with Samsung,” he said

By: DocMemory
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