UMC to produce ISP and related panel driver ICs using Samsung equipment, countering Sony and TSMC

Samsung and UMC have collaborated on a new cooperation model in which the former invested in the equipment to be placed in the UMC Nanke P6 plant, and the latter will manufacture ISP and related panel driver ICs, reports Financial Associated Press.

According to the news, industry insiders consider that this is Samsung’s strategy to counter the alliance between Sony and Taiwan-based chip maker. Last year, Sony (a.k.a. leader in the market of image sensors) formally cooperated with TSMC and handed over the key parts of the CIS image sensor for the first time.

Aside from this, Sony and Samsung rank in the top two in the smartphone image sensor market in 2020, reported Strategy Analytics. Furthermore, the data revealed that Sony secured 46% revenue share while Samsung’s share was 29% during the same period.

The researchers of Strategy Analytics also said that Sony has lost key businesses due to the restrictions of the US government on Huawei. And its major rival like Samsung, OmniVision, and SK Hynix continues to seize market share from Sony.

As competition in the smartphone image sensor market raises, Sony’s market dominance will be increasingly threatened. According to TrendForce, TSMC held a 54.1% market share in the foundry sector in the first quarter of this year. This was followed by Samsung’s 15.9%, GlobalFoundries’ 7.7%, UMC’s 7.4%, and SMIC’s 4.5%.

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