Samsung aims to topple Sony with camera sensors featuring on-sensor AI

Samsung wants to use on-sensor AI processing in its future camera sensors

According to a new report from Business Korea, Samsung is incorporating AI into its camera image sensor business. After unveiling its third 200MP camera sensor earlier this year, the South Korean firm announced the Zoom Anyplace technology, which is powered by AI. It offers simultaneous 4K video recording of the full frame and a zoomed-in part of that frame. The company plans to incorporate even more AI features into its camera sensors. Its long-term business plan is to create sensors that can replicate human senses. Its roadmap includes the development of camera sensors that can capture even invisible things by 2027.

During Samsung's System LSI Tech Day 2023 event held in Silicon Valley, System LSI President Park Yong-in emphasized the goal of leading the ‘Proactive AI' era, which includes mastering Generative AI, high-performance algorithms and technologies, and long-range communication solutions. After a brief period of contraction during the COVID-19 era, the camera sensor market has switched to the growth phase, thanks to demand from autonomous cars, IoT, robotics, and XR (Extended Reality) devices.

SK Hynix, during its SK Hynix TechSummit 2023 event, revealed that it is incorporating an AI processing chip into its camera sensors. This technology lowers the latency and improves image quality while also reducing power consumption. Using an AI accelerator in the image sensor, the company is testing features like face and object recognition.

Both Samsung and SK Hynix are trying to close the gap with Sony in the camera image sensor market. According to a report from Counterpoint Research, Sony dominates the image sensor market with a market share of 54%. Samsung has a 29% share of the market, while SK Hynix barely managed to enter the top-five rankings with a 5% market share.