Sony Can't Build Its Image Sensors Fast Enough [Report]

Sony is planning to run its chip factories 24/7 through the holidays to try and keep up with the demand for image sensors used in mobile phones, says Terushi Shimizu, the head of Sony’s semiconductor unit.

According to a recent Bloomberg report, Sony will double its capital spending on the business to $2.6 billion this fiscal year and build a new plant in Nagasaki that will begin production in April 2021.

“Judging by the way things are going, even after all that investment in expanding capacity, it might still not be enough,” Shimizu said in an interview at the Tokyo headquarters. “We are having to apologize to customers because we just can’t make enough.”


Smartphone makers like Apple are relying on camera improvements to get customers to upgrade their devices each year. Additionally, photo quality is now driving competition between brands with each looking to better the other's advancements.

Sony is planning to increase monthly output capacity of image sensors to 138,000 wafers form 109,000 now. It will invest about $6.4 billion in the three-year period ending March 2021 to achieve this. Currently, the company controls 51% of the market but it's hoping to reach 60% share by fiscal 2025.

Key to its growth will be a new generation of sensors that see in three dimensions. These time of flight sensors send out invisible laser pulses and measure how long they take to bounce back. This creates a detailed depth model that helps produce better photos and enables new augmented reality features. On the front of the phone, TOF sensors allow for better hand gesture and facial motion capture.

Apple is rumored to be introducing a time of flight sensor in its next generation iPhone. When asked, Shimizu declined to comment on specific customers but said Sony is expects a significant increase in demand next year.


“This was the year zero for time of flight,” Shimizu said. “Once you start seeing interesting applications of this technology, it will motivate people to buy new phones.”

More details in the full report linked below!

Read More