16 May 2019
Counterpoint Forecast Surge in Multi Camera Penetration
Counterpoint have published their forecast for the smartphone market, stating that half of smartphones sold globally by the end of 2021 will sport three or more rear cameras.
The industry analysis firm’s latest market forecast confirms that multi-camera setup adoption will continue to rise over the next few years. Back in March 2018, only 6% of smartphones sold had three or more rear cameras. By the end of this year, Counterpoint estimate that this figure will rise to 15%, with 30 such devices launched in 1Q19 alone. Counterpoint forecast penetration to reach 35% and 50% by the end of 2020 and 2021 respectively.
With regards to smartphone vendors, Huawei and Samsung are leading the charge. Huawei’s much lauded P30 Pro sports four rear cameras, whilst devices from Samsung’s mid-range A series adopt triple camera setups. Even the super-budget Ulefone Note 7, priced at $50, recently launched with three rear cameras.
Counterpoint advise that multi-camera setups permit an impressive array of features, including high zoom factors, wide-angle shots and depth effects. As a result, they believe Google are under pressure to adopt multi-camera setups within the Pixel range.
Counterpoint comment that ‘the focus on camera as a differentiating factor is likely to enhance the cooperation among camera lens, module and AP manufacturers to achieve higher optimisations’.
The ongoing growth of the camera components market is a positive outlook for key technology suppliers such as CML. The inclusion of additional camera modules inside the densely packed smartphone internal real estate exacerbates the issue of magnetic interference when using traditional electromagnetic Voice Coil Motor (VCM) products. Whereas CML’s SMA actuators contain no magnets and so do not interfere with other key smartphone components. This allows optimum system performance and the most compact designs.