Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors continue to expand their already commanding lead of the overall image sensor market, pushing charge coupled device CCD sensors into an increasingly isolated space.  In 2011, CMOS sensor shipments accounted for 92% of all area image sensors, equaling 2.1 billion units, according to an IHS iSuppli Consumer Platforms topical report.  CCD sensor shipments made up the remaining 8% of the market, equaling 180.3 million units shipped.

IHS predicts that, by 2015, CMOS shipments will amount to 3.6 billion units or 97% market share, leaving just 95.2 million CCD shipments to make up the remaining 3% of the market. According to Pamela Tufegdzic, analyst for consumer electronics at IHS, “CMOS sensors long have been associated with cheaper manufacturing costs, greater efficiency and faster data-throughput speeds. For those reasons, CMOS sensor use has kept expanding in an ever-growing number of devices and applications, while the use of higher-cost CCDs has shrunk steadily.”

Mobile handsets remain the dominant application for CMOS sensors, representing 79 percent of total CMOS shipments in 2011. Videoconferencing is the second-biggest application market in terms of CMOS shipments, due to the inclusion of cameras in notebook computers. CMOS sensors also found increasing use in two growing markets—the security space through network video surveillance systems; and in automotive systems through the use of back-up cameras and in such applications as lane-departure warning, blind-spot detection and infrared night vision.

In comparison, CCDs are finding acceptance in the industrial markets and in digital still cameras. But even here, CCD use is declining. Among high-end digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras, for instance, CCD use will shrink from 12 percent in 2011 to just 1 percent by 2014. And because the camera space is weakening as a whole while consumers gravitate toward smartphones, overall CCD consumption will decline further, IHS believes.

According to IHS, "the introduction of backside illumination (BSI) technology was the break in camera technology that gave CMOS the edge over CCD".  BSI is projected to be in 56% of smartphones and higher-end feature handset camera phones during 2012, and in 92% of the same class of handsets by 2015.  IHS believes that image sensor companies will be expected to continue reinforcing their CMOS business models while exploring ways  to be the first to market leading-edge solutions. They also state that "it is imperative for the industry to bring down the price of BSI technology, which will be critical in securing its place in the CMOS market".

Sources: IHS, ElectroIQ.

Since October 1, 2011, when the Pentax Ricoh Imaging Company (PRI) was established, Ricoh managed its global imaging system business under two brands, RICOH and PENTAX.

Specifically RICOH brand digital cameras were designed, developed and sold by Personal Multimedia Product Company (PMCC), an internal organization of Ricoh, while PENTAX brand digital cameras were designed, developed and sold by PRI.

In an effort to strengthen customer relationships and provide innovative products and services, Ricoh will re-organize its structure.  Effective April 1, PRI will handle all consumer businesses, such as digital cameras (including Ricoh development resources to improve capabilities and support Ricoh branded cameras ), while Ricoh PMCC will cover B2B businesses including the security system business and imaging solutions business.

Source News Release | Ricoh Global.

General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) announced that they will invest in Check-Cap, Ltd., a developer of an ingestible imaging capsule that may help detect colorectal cancer. The investment is being made through the GE healthymagination Fund, an equity fund that makes investments in highly promising healthcare technology companies.

Check-Cap’s ingestible and disposable imaging capsule is planned to have the capability to image the colon in 3D.

The investment is aligned with GE Healthcare’s expanding focus on colon cancer management solutions that can improve healthcare globally, as well as GE’s broader healthymagination initiative, which focuses on reducing cost, increasing patient access and improving quality in healthcare. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

In addition to the financial investment and as part of a broader collaboration, Check-Cap and GE Healthcare have entered into a development and supply agreement where GE Healthcare–Israel will develop, design and produce miniature Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) diagnostic imaging sensors inside each Check-Cap capsule to enable clinicians to obtain full 360-degree imaging as the capsule travels in the colon. GE has years of experience in the area of CZT-based detectors and similar technologies have been used in GE Healthcare’s nuclear medicine and bone densitometry systems.

Check-Cap plans to introduce its ingestible imaging capsule in the European Union in late 2013, subject to CE Mark regulatory approval. The company also is in discussions with the United States Food & Drug Administration concerning appropriate clinical activities to support approval to market the product in the United States.

Source: GE healthyimagination

Eastman Kodak Co.’s momentous announcement that it was exiting the digital camera business did not come out of the blue.

One big clue came in the summer of 2011, when the company said it was looking to sell a folder of 1,100 patents having to do with digital imaging.

Kodak also spent 2011 focusing on a digital camera business strategy that included deliberately selling fewer cameras as it concentrated on profitable models and markets. Because of that strategy, company sales of digital capture devices were down about 6 percent for the first nine months of 2011.

Many of Kodak’s key camera competitors are having their own struggles, according to recent financial filings, though their business issues seem more temporary than the years-old problems Kodak has had in making a profit from digital cameras.

Read more via Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com.

Sony will use the edge its new image-sensors have over rivals to quickly move into the health imaging market, said incoming Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai. Sony is spending 140 billion yen to boost CMOS production, aiming to win a 30 percent share of shipments in the market for image sensors used in mobile phones, compared with 11 percent for the year ended March 2011. Sony’s monthly capacity for chip wafers used to make the sensors will be lifted to 50,000 units by March 2012 and 75,000 units in the following three years, from 25,000 in Dec. 2010.

The company is targeting endoscopes used to look inside body cavities and other applications and will also review more than 2,000 consumer products it makes, and may exit unprofitable businesses. Hirai said, Sony will “speed up” development of its technology and seek new products in which CMOS, or complementary metal-oxide semiconductors, can be used.

According to Yuji Fujimori, a Tokyo-based analyst at Barclays Plc., CMOS may help lift operating profit at Sony’s semiconductor division to 90 billion yen in the year ending March 2014, from 40 billion yen in the 12 months to March 2012.

Source: Bloomberg

Strengthened by their use in mobile handsets and emerging product segments, complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensors continued to expand their already commanding lead of the overall image sensor market in 2011.

Last year, shipments of CMOS sensors accounted for 92 percent of all area image sensors — an overwhelming share that translated into some 2.1 billion units, up 31 percent from 1.6 billion in 2010, according to IHS iSuppli. In 2010, the CMOS share of the sensor market was 90 percent vs. 10 percent for CCD.

By 2015, CMOS shipments will amount to 3.6 billion units or 97 percent market share, compared to CCD shipments of just 95.2 million, or 3 percent.

"CMOS sensors long have been associated with cheaper manufacturing costs, greater efficiency and faster data-throughput speeds," said Pamela Tufegdzic, analyst for consumer electronics at IHS. "For those reasons, CMOS sensor use has kept expanding in an ever-growing number of devices and applications, while the use of higher-cost CCDs has shrunk steadily."

Mobile handsets remain the dominant application for CMOS sensors, representing 79 percent of total CMOS shipments in 2011. Videoconferencing is the second-biggest due to the inclusion of cameras in notebook computers. CMOS sensors also found increasing use in two growing markets — the security space through network video surveillance systems; and in automotive systems through the use of back-up cameras and in such applications as lane-departure warning, blind-spot detection and infrared night vision.

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Fred Lerner, a veteran within the photo specialty and e-commerce industries, has announced the acquisition of MailPix.com, an early-stage online imaging website.

According to Lerner, MailPix.com is ideally equipped to serve the large and growing online imaging market. “I’m impressed by the site’s advanced Facebook, iPhone and Android technology, as well as the overall business model,” Lerner said. “It also has great URL.”

The MailPix.com site will be temporarily closed for updates, but is scheduled to re-launch on May 1.

“Online imaging is almost a $2 billion industry, and that doesn’t even include the enormous opportunity of the billions of photos on Facebook, Twitter, smartphones, computers and cameras,” noted Lerner.

During his business career, Fred Lerner was co-founder, president and CEO of Ritz Interactive, Inc. He served as president and CEO of Kodak Processing Labs, Inc., a division of Kodak‘s Qualex Inc., after selling Lerner Photo Inc. to Qualex. He began his career with Berkey Photo. Lerner was also president of RCI Acquisition LLC, which acquired Ritz Camera Centers Inc. under Section 363 of the Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Code. He was international president of the Photo Marketing Association International (PMA) from 2005-06, and served on many PMA committees. Lerner is currently a board member of International Photographic Council (IPC) of the United Nations, where he is a Hall of Fame recipient.

Source: MailPix Press Release

As a result of its ongoing strategic review process and commitment to drive sustainable profitability through its most valuable business lines, Eastman Kodak Company plans to phase out its dedicated capture devices business (digital cameras, pocket video cameras and digital picture frames) in the first half of 2012. Kodak will instead expand its current brand licensing program, and seek licensees in these categories. Following this decision, Kodak’s Consumer Business will include online and retail-based photo printing, as well as desktop inkjet printing.

Kodak has contacted its retail partners, and is working closely with them to ensure an orderly transition. Kodak will continue to honor all related product warranties, and provide technical support and service for its cameras, pocket video cameras and digital picture frames.

Upon completion of the phase out, Kodak expects to achieve annual operating savings of more than $100 million. Kodak expects to incur a charge related to separation benefits of approximately $30 million resulting from the exit of the business.

In addition to its Consumer Businesses segment, Kodak has a Commercial Businesses segment that includes the Digital and Functional Printing, Enterprise Services and Solutions, and Graphics, Entertainment and Commercial Films units. Kodak’s digital businesses now comprise approximately three-fourths of total revenues.

Kodak continues to have a strong position in the personal imaging market. While photos are increasingly taken on multi-function mobile devices, Kodak technology makes it easy for consumers to produce a broad range of photo products, anywhere, anytime – from prints to photobooks, photo greeting cards and personalized calendars. These items can be made on Kodak products, with Kodak quality at retail, at home, and ordered for delivery to home.

Kodak’s continuing consumer products and services will include:

• Retail-based photo kiosks and digital dry lab systems, a market in which Kodak is the clear worldwide leader. Kodak pioneered the retail-based kiosk market, and the company now has more than 100,000 kiosks and order stations for dry lab systems around the world, with some 30,000 of those units connected to the most popular photo-sharing sites. 

• Consumer inkjet printers, where Kodak has outpaced overall market growth for several years. Kodak consumer inkjet printers provide consumers with high-quality output and the lowest total ink replacement cost. Consumers can send documents and photos to Kodak printers from anywhere, using any web-connected device. 

• Kodak apps for Facebook, which make it easy for consumers to obtain photo products using photos from their Facebook albums. 

• Kodak Gallery, a leading online digital photo products service. Kodak Gallery enables consumers to share their photos, and offers product and creation tools that enable people to do more with their photos. 

• The Kodak camera accessories and batteries businesses. These products are universally compatible with all camera brands, and extend into other consumer product segments such as charging units for smartphones. 

• The traditional film capture and photographic paper business, which continues to provide high-quality and innovative products and solutions to consumers, photographers, retailers, photofinishers and professional labs.

Source: Eastman Kodak Company Press Release

Kodak will be in full force at drupa 2012, showcasing a number of new technologies and solutions and unveiling significant partnerships in the key markets that the company serves around the world. Journalists and analysts will get a preview of Kodak’s presence on March 6th during a press event in Lisbon where Kodak will announce products debuting at drupa, and preview what visitors can expect at Kodak’s stand (Hall 5, F09-1). In addition, attendees will hear from customers about the changes taking place in their markets and how they’re finding success by partnering with Kodak.

“Kodak’s commitment to the graphic communications market and the success of our customers is the main focus for our press conference in March and drupa in May,” said Chris Payne, Vice President, Commercial Marketing, Kodak. “Visitors to drupawill learn about the latest ways we’re leading dynamic change in the markets we serve—including publishing, packaging and commercial print—with the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio of products, solutions and services for printers in offset, digital and hybrid environments.”

At drupa, Kodak will spotlight customers who have grown their businesses and their bottom lines by offering new capabilities and services, producing unique applications, and improving operational efficiencies by working with Kodak.

“Our customers look to Kodak as a leader in products, solutions and services,” Payne said. “And we will celebrate our customers in innovative ways at drupa. Make no mistake about it—Kodak is here today and will be here tomorrow, continuing to help our customers grow their businesses.”

For more information about Kodak at drupa, go to www.kodak.com/go/drupa.

A pair of professors from the University of Minnesota have developed a 3D visualization system that aims to revolutionize how medical devices are designed and tested. The professors claim that the system can reduce research and development time and costs by allowing researchers to develop and test devices without making a prototype.

The system is the brainchild of Art Erdman, director of the U’s Medical Devices Center, and Daniel Keefe, a professor in the department of computer science. The technology works by forming images that show how a device functions based on data that is loaded onto the system.

A beta test (at a large un-named company) is set to commence later this month. “Like many breakthrough technologies, it needs to be developed further and its understanding broadened. It’s a ‘coming soon’ thing, not a ‘tomorrow’ thing,” Kaehler said.

Source: MEDCITY News