Samsung aims to recover market share with its latest image sensor

The Isocell HP2 image sensor has 200 million pixels, and is known to be the smallest of its kind on the market. [Source : Samsung Electronics]

Samsung Electronics Co. announced on Tuesday that it has released a new image sensor with a higher pixel resolution and faster speed in its efforts to increase market share.

The Isocell HP2 image sensor has 200 million pixels, and is known to be the smallest of its kind on the market. The new image sensor will likely be included in the new flagship Galaxy S23 that will be uncovered at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event on Feb. 1.

Samsung had 15.3 percent share of the image sensor market in the third quarter of last year, falling by more than 5 percentage points from the previous three-month period, according to a tech research firm Omdia. The fall is seen to have been mostly driven by a stagnated Chinese market due to Covid-19.

Sony Group Corp., the leader in the image sensor market, took more than half of the market share, accounting for 50.9 percent of the market. When narrowing the market to solely image sensors for mobile devices, Samsung Electronics accounted for 26.9 percent. Sony’s market share is 52.8 percent.

Samsung’s new image sensor has 200 million 0.6-micrometer pixels. The latest model has even smaller pixels than last year’s 200-million-pixel model.

The latest image sensor provides 30 frames per second for 8K video and 120 FPS for 4K videos. The sensor also provides high resolution of 8K videos with the same angle view of photographs.

It has adopted some of the newest technologies. It’s new “dual vertical transfer gate” technology helps improve resolution, increasing the full-well capacity up to 33 percent compared to the previous model. A higher full-well capacity gives more colors, as each pixel can use more light. The shutter speed is twice as fast as the previous model, and a larger lit area improves definition.