Dongbu Starts Mass Production of 5MP Sensor for Superpix

Business Wire: Dongbu HiTek has begun volume production of 5MP Image Sensor for Superpix Micro Technology of Beijing, China. With patented SuperPix pixel signal processing and SuperImage image processing techniques, Superpix anticipates strong demand for its 5MP CIS devices in China’s mid-range to low-end smart phone market segments.

"We continue to expand our foundry relationship with Superpix, and are now on track to begin developing its 8MP CIS chips early next year so that volume production can also begin next year," said Jae Song, Dongbu HiTek EVP of marketing. He noted that his company’s foundry relationship with Superpix has progressively developed from manufacturing QVGA/VGA chips to the 2MP–to-8MP range.

According to Maybank, the Chinese smart phone market in the mid-range to low-end segment is forecast to grow from some 216M units shipped this year to about 400M units in 2015, thereby exceeding 85% growth over the two year period. In another forecast from iSuppli, smart phones that feature 5MP resolution and above will substantially command this segment’s growth as they replace 2M resolution cameras, shipping 187M units next year and 288M units in 2015, representing a year-over year growth of more than 50%.