Mar 11 2009
Himax Technologies, Inc. ("Himax" or "Company") (Nasdaq:HIMX) today announced that in less than two years since the company established its CMOS image sensor team, it has launched 3-mega-pixel, 2-mega-pixel and VGA sensors and will soon commence small-scale commercial shipments to one of the world's leading cell phone camera module manufacturers. The Company expects the product segment to ramp in the second half of the year.
Himax's CMOS image sensor was developed under Himax Imaging, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Himax. Established from scratch in March 2007, Himax Imaging has grown into a team of 50 employees, with R&D in Irvine, California, and Jhubei, Taiwan and sales, marketing and technical support in Taiwan, Shanghai and Shenzhen. The team consists of highly experienced engineers specialized in sensor design, device physics, process integration, sensor characterization and image processing.
In less than two years since inception, possibly the shortest time in the industry, Himax Imaging has developed and launched CMOS image sensor products with pixel-size and product performance comparable to the world's leading players. Himax Imaging's proprietary UltraBright(tm) technology delivers superior signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in low-light and video modes without decreasing frame rate or increasing power consumption. The ClearVision(tm) technology enhances the sensor's dynamic range that reveals more details in high-contrast scenes.
According to iSuppli, the market size of CMOS image sensor is expected to grow from $4.0 billion in 2008 to $6.2 billion in 2012 as the broad market demand for cameras with higher resolution, smaller form factor, lower power consumption and lower costs increases and fuels the need for CMOS image sensors. The image sensors are used in applications such as cell phones, digital still cameras, videoconferencing, surveillance, automotives and camcorders.
Jordan Wu, President and CEO of Himax, commented, "We believe the CMOS image sensor technology will be applied to numerous applications, many of which may be beyond today's imagination. We chose to start with cell phone and laptop camera applications because Himax has a strong customer base and complementary display product ingenuity, thanks to our leading position in LCD drivers and LCOS-based pico projector products. In 2009, which will be the first year of mass production in this new product line, our efforts will be primarily customer design-wins and broadening our product portfolio. We expect the CMOS image sensor product line to be one of the major growth engines for Himax in the long run."