Sony Group revealed that due to lower-than-expected sales to major customers in 2024 and intensified competition in the high-end segment of the Chinese market, its market share remained the same as the previous year, and its goal of achieving a 60% market share in 2025 is expected to be delayed.

Revenue growth in 2024, but market share remains constant

Sony Group Imaging & Sensing Solutions (I&SS) forecasts sales of 1.799 trillion yen in fiscal 2024, up 12% year-on-year, and operating profit of 261.1 billion yen, up 35% year-on-year, both record highs. The sales growth is due to favorable exchange rates, improved product mix, and increased sales of sensors for mobile devices.

"The image sensor business has been targeting a 60% market share in 2025, but in 2024 we failed to achieve sales growth that exceeded the market, and market share remained flat,"Shinji Sashida, president of Sony Semiconductor Solutions (Sony Semiconductor), explained in a video released on June 13, 2025. Specifically, actual performance in 2024 will be the same as the previous year, at 53%. It is expected to reach 56% in 2025.

Image sensor value share performance and forecast Source: Sony Group

Intensified competition in China's high-end market is also having an impact

Sony Semiconductor CFO Yasuhiro Kono explained that there are two main reasons for the company's flat market share in 2024. One is that the sales of major customers did not meet expectations, and the other is that competition with rivals in the high-end field in China has intensified, "so we are struggling a bit in this field."

On June 13, Sony Semiconductor also announced its business strategy. The company listed five functional axes: sensitivity/noise, dynamic range, resolution, readout speed, and power consumption, and said it would fully promote the development of various businesses. Kono explained that in order to expand market share, "our advantage is to create products that strike a good balance between these functional axes, but we will further improve this technology. In addition, we will bring new products of each technology to market as soon as possible." He continued, "Unfortunately, we expect the market share target to be temporarily postponed, but our goal of winning the market remains unchanged. We will continue to operate the business with a target of 60%."

Sony ranks first in smartphone CIS shipments in 2024, and Chinese companies rank second and third

According to market research firm Counterpoint Research, global smartphone CMOS image sensor (CIS) shipments are expected to grow 2% year-on-year to 4.4 billion units in 2024. Sony will maintain its first position, Chinese company GalaxyCore will rank second, and OmniVision Technologies will rank third.

Top 3 smartphone CIS shipments in 2024

Source: Counterpoint Research

According to Counterpoint Research, the average number of cameras per smartphone will decrease to 3.7 in 2024 from 3.8 in 2023. Meanwhile, smartphone CIS shipments increased 2% year-on-year, driven by the recovery of demand in the end market.

Looking at the top three, Sony firmly holds the top spot. The company's shipments increased slightly from the previous year, mainly due to higher production and increased demand for high-end smartphones. In second place is Galaxy Core, whose shipments increased by a significant 34% from the previous year. According to Counterpoint Research, Galaxy Core is taking advantage of its high cost efficiency to increase orders for Android smartphones. The company has also significantly enhanced its product competitiveness by transitioning to a light fab operation model. It is said that the company is accelerating the development of high-pixel products such as 50 million pixels and strengthening its product portfolio.

OmniVision

In third place is OmniVision, the US subsidiary of China's Will Semiconductor. Thanks to the expansion of 50 million pixel products, the company's shipments in 2024 are expected to increase by 14% year-on-year. Counterpoint Research explained: "OmniVision's 50-megapixel image sensor 'OV50H' has excellent performance and is more competitively priced than similar products. It has received strong support since its release and has been widely adopted by major Chinese manufacturers." In the CIS market, SK Hynix announced that it will exit the business in March 2025 and integrate the functions of the department into the AI memory business. Counterpoint Research pointed out that SK Hynix's exit may create new growth opportunities for Chinese suppliers including GalaxyCore and OmniVision.

Counterpoint Research also expects that technological advances such as LOFIC (Horizontal Overflow Integral Capacity) and multispectral, as well as manufacturers' continued efforts to improve camera performance, will push up the market's average selling price (ASP) in the future. However, the global smartphone market faces challenges due to geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic uncertainties, and CIS shipments are expected to decline slightly in 2025 compared to the previous year. The company also pointed out that the continued decline in the number of cameras per smartphone is a factor in the decline in CIS demand.

Reference link

https://eetimes.itmedia.co.jp/ee/articles/2506/13/news108.html

https://eetimes.itmedia.co.jp/ee/articles/2505/28/news061.html

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