Earlier, we reported on the use of Sony image sensors in rival smartphones. According to Sony leadership, the innovations expected from this technology goes far beyond smartphones. Predicting a peak in smartphone sales in 2015, Sony is looking at producing sensors for products ranging from gesture TVs to self-driving cars.

So what are Sony’s plans for these image sensors beyond the smartphone market?

According to the Bloomberg article:

 Sony has garnered almost a third of the $7.6 billion market for the low-power chips, known as complementary metal-oxide semiconductors [CMOS], that quickly capture crisp snapshots in high-end smartphones, a market that is nearing saturation. 

The senior vice president of the unit overseeing the technology, Yasuhiro Ueda, says that Sony’s plan is all about preparing for the future:

 We have a high sense of crisis after seeing the high-end smartphone market start to saturate this year…Our plan is to draw a growth strategy in an area where we see shipment potential of 10 billion units a year. 

As mentioned above, these chips are currently utilized in high-end smartphones, even including rivals to Sony’s Xperia line such as Apple’s latest iPhones and Samsung’s Galaxy S4. The sensors have much greater potential, however, as well as a great deal more earning power. With upcoming wearable devices, as well as Google Glass, the Sony image sensors are starting to be considered for use in less conventional products. The division which oversees these imaging devices saw “most of the earnings [from last quarter] generated by sales of the chips.” Sony is now looking at placing the sensors in autonomous vehicles and gesture TVs, as well as medical equipment. With the versatile nature of the image sensor, they can be used in countless seen and unseen ways.

It seems that while the smartphone as we know it will certainly fade away eventually, Sony’s astute move to place this technology in many other types, and brands, of devices will only ensure their place among device innovators.

Discuss:

Where do you see Sony’s CMOS chips heading? What kinds of innovations would you like to see from this technology?