Sony Boosting 3D Camera Sensor Manufacture As Apple, Other Tech Firms Show Interest

The biggest smartphone camera chip manufacturer, Sony is organizing a next-generation 3D camera sensor production after many customers show their interests including Apple.

According to Head of the Sensor Division of Sony, Mr. Satoshi Yoshihara, both front and back 3D camera models of some smartphone manufacturers will be powered by the chips next year. It is known that Sony kick-started the mass production at the end of summer to meet the demand. He, however, declined to reveal the information of production or sales targets but mentioned the operation of its business in 3D is profitable and will have an impact on the company's earnings from the fiscal year, which starts in April.

The price-rising outlook of Sony for its 3D cameras offers a lot of optimistic potential to the smartphone industry in the world, which has been gradually going down because customers do not find their motivation for upgrading their devices. In addition, Sony has also provided a set of software tools for partners for running online shopping, or other developers to experiment with its chips and develop applications which create facial models for communication.

According to Yoshihara, an expert with experience of more than 10 years in the camera application in smartphones worldwide, he is certain that they could successfully introduce the 3D camera despite the field-varying pace.

At present, Sony’s camera chip accounts for around 50 percent of chip market share in the world. It is also a current provider of Alphabet Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., and Apple despite Yoshihara’s refusal to identify these companies by their name due to the confidentiality agreements. Typically, according to a trusted information source with Bloomberg, another tech giant in the world, Huawei Technologies Co. is planning to use the 3D cameras of Sony for its next flagships.

However, Sony still has its rivals in the 3D chip sector such as STMicroelectronics NV and Lumentum Holdings, which have already found out how to use the 3D chips like measuring depth for focus improvement when capturing photos at night or facial recognition unlocking feature.

The technology of Sony is different from the existing chips’ structured light approach which is limited in distance and accuracy, added Yoshihara. Accordingly, Sony is said to use “time of flight” method which produces laser pulses which are impossible to see and measures the time they spend on returning. That creates 3D models which are more detailed and can work in five-meter distances. In addition, other uses consist of mobile games involving creating virtual characters with the ability to navigate and interact with the environments in the real world, or others that use hand gestures for control.

Certainly, the demand for the technology of Sony is not tested and it still considers whether customers will be interested in this 3D technology enough to help the smartphone market worldwide get out of its current funk. According to IDC, the annual shipments in the world were likely to decline by 3 percent in 2018 and are expected to increase by only 2.6 percent in 2019. Yoshihara also revealed that devices will only have two chips in 3D for its front and rear cameras, although the global smartphone makers tend to integrate more than 3 cameras in their smartphones.

Sony also demonstrated some examples that equip a rear 3D camera in its custom phone in the interview. In an application, users made particular hand gestures in order to cast magic spells inside a virtual game. In another one, users could have the phone calculate the room depth and exactly display a virtual goldfish that swims behind and in front of objects in real life.

Yoshihara believed that the most important thing next year will make people excited.