Design Article
IP key in CMOS image sensors
3/27/2006 9:00 AM EST
One of the largest growth markets in the semiconductor industry continues to be CMOS image sensors. The inclusion of the "unblinking eye" in mobile handsets, optical mice and the like has driven this growth over the last few years and is projected to continue to fuel growth in the foreseeable future. The revenue for CMOS image sensors grew 65.9 percent in 2004 from the year before and is expected to reach $4.64 billion by 2007.
While the market continues to grow, the number of mergers and acquisitions (MagnaChip and IC Media, for example) suggests that CMOS image sensors will soon transition to a commodity market. The current market leaders are Avago (formerly Agilent), Omnivision, STMicroelectronics and MagnaChip. But a different picture appears when one examines the ability of the industry to choose CMOS image sensors over charge-coupled device image sensors.
When CMOS image sensors become a commodity market, profit margins will tighten considerably. The remaining players will use their intellectual property to maximize their market share. So who has the best intellectual-property position for this transition to a commodity market?
This is a difficult question to answer, as researching patents is an inexact science. Ownership documents can be missing at the time of publication. Applicants can mask their intent by using a nonindustry-standard vocabulary when describing the inventions in question. And intellectual property does not always follow the line of business splits, or mergers and acquisitions. Nevertheless, carefully constructed keyword searches and well-educated assumptions can reveal a fairly accurate picture of the IP landscape.
When examining patents that deal directly with technologies meant to improve the traditionally simple CMOS image sensor, it becomes apparent that the patent leaders are Micron Technology, Intel, Eastman Kodak and MagnaChip.
Pixel cells from Micron's CMOS image sensor, which will compete with CCD in cost, power.
Micron Technology's dominant patent position is derived from its aggressive entry into the CMOS image sensor market, via its 2002 acquisition of Photobit. Photobit was a spin-off from the California Institute of Technology and is considered a pioneer of the modern CMOS image sensor. Micron used the foundations of the Photobit portfolio, and through the filing of continuation patent applications, developed a great deal of its current portfolio. This enabled the establishment of a patent portfolio relevant to its current products, but maintained the advantage of older priority dates (i.e., the earliest date that the applicant entered the patent process). This strategy is likely designed to overcome the company's perceived late entry into the CMOS image sensor market, in terms of the foundational intellectual property.
As a foundry-based player, Micron also devotes a good portion of its portfolio to fabrication methods. Semiconductor Insights estimates that approximately 40 percent of the Micron CMOS image sensor patent portfolio is directed toward proprietary manufacturing methods. This is not surprising, given that Micron's strategy upon entry into the market was to leverage depreciated DRAM production lines. These patents will likely become very important when CMOS image sensors become a commodity.
Intel left the CMOS image sensor market in 2000, without having really entered it, but it built up a significant amount of IP before its departure. The company appears to be No. 2 when it comes to having the most number of patents that deal directly with CMOS image sensors. What role this IP could play in an upcoming commodity market is anyone's guess. Based on Semiconductor Insights' research, the portfolio appears to be well-rounded. The largest segment is fabrication methods, which comprise approximately 25 percent of the portfolio.
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