2023 Automotive Camera Industry Chain /upstream Enterprise Analysis

Whether it's vision or multi-sensor fusion solutions, cameras are almost standard equipment for smart cars. As the core sensor of the perception layer, with the continuous upgrading of ADAS functions, car mounted cameras are facing opportunities for both quantity and price.

The automotive camera industry chain mainly involves three main links: upstream materials, midstream components, and downstream products.

Upstream includes optical lenses, filters, protective films, adhesive materials, CMOS image sensors, DSP signal processors, module packaging, etc; The midstream can be divided into front view cameras, surround view cameras, rear view cameras, side view cameras, built-in cameras, etc. according to the installation location; Downstream is widely used as a component in the automotive industry.

From the cost analysis of car mounted cameras, CMOS chips account for the largest proportion, exceeding half; In addition, module packaging accounts for 25%, and optical lenses account for about 15%.

According to the Electrend, the concept of automotive supply chain level is very vague due to the influence of internet car manufacturing thinking. Upstream suppliers can provide complete camera products to downstream vehicle manufacturers. At present, the main market share holder is the Tier 1, a first tier car, with a customer base that basically covers major global vehicle companies.

1、 CMOS image sensor

Compared to applications in mobile phones and security, in car CMOS mainly has higher requirements for safety, reliability, low illumination, dynamic range, and functional safety in image quality.

The application scenarios of in car CMOS are mainly divided into three types: 360 surround view, reverse camera, driving recorder, etc; The second is ADAS, autonomous driving, etc; The third is the application of DMS and other cockpit applications. According to market trends, future market growth points will mainly come from fields such as ADAS and autonomous driving.

According to the Electrend, the demand for CMOS image sensors per car will exceed 20 according to different driving levels of L1-L5.

According to market data, the global in car CMOS market value in 2021 was 3.81 billion US dollars, of which the market value for front-end devices was 3.14 billion US dollars. It is expected that by 2026, the global in car CMOS market value will reach 9.07 billion US dollars, with the total value of the front-end market reaching 8.28 billion US dollars.

At present, the main suppliers of in car CMOS include companies such as Onsemi, Sony, Omnivision Group, smartsense, Pixelplus, Galaxycore, Samsung, etc.

Onsemi：Acquired the Plass CMOS business unit and image sensor equipment manufacturers Truesense Imaging and Aptina Imaging, allowing Ansemy to obtain a large number of related patents and technologies. Its in car CMOS has remained the world's number one for many years, with its main advantage in the 2M and below market, which is currently the category with the highest demand.

In 2022, Onsemi's revenue was $8.33 billion, of which the automotive business revenue reached $3.36 billion, accounting for 40% of the total revenue.

Smartsense： After acquiring Allchip in 2020, Sitewei launched the research and development of the in car CMOS series products in 2021. The application scenarios include 360 degree panoramic imaging, driving recorder, cockpit monitoring, electronic rearview mirror, ADAS, electronic rearview mirror, and other fields. In the same year, Sitewei launched the front end product SC120AT, achieving mass shipment of the entire vehicle project and obtaining new project targets from multiple car manufacturers.

According to the company's 2022 midterm report, the revenue from automotive electronics was 65.99 million yuan, an increase of 15.2% compared to the same period last year, accounting for 6.5% of the main revenue.

2、 Optical lens

The optical lens includes optical components such as lenses and filters, which play a crucial role in the imaging quality of the camera. Generally speaking, optical lenses are made of glass and plastic. The cost of glass lenses is high, but the transmittance is high and the coefficient of thermal expansion is low; The cost of plastic lens is lower, but the transmittance is slightly lower, and the coefficient of thermal expansion is high.

Due to the large temperature changes in the car environment, which can affect the optical performance of the lens, glass lenses with good thermal stability are more suitable for car lenses. Considering cost factors, using two types of glass plastic hybrid lenses simultaneously can balance cost and performance. Some manufacturers solve the reliability problem of exposed plastic lenses by using special plastic materials and coating processes, achieving all plastic lenses that can meet automotive applications.

At present, the main suppliers of automotive optical lenses include Sunny, LCE, Ofilm, YTOT, Hongjing, Largan and other enterprises, with the former two being representatives.

Sunny：With a market share of over 30%, it has consistently ranked first in the automotive lens industry for many years. According to the statistics of Electrend, the shipment volume of car mounted lenses in 2022 is about 79 million, a year-on-year increase of 16%.

As of the first half of last year, Shunyu Optics has newly developed and completed multiple 5 megapixel glass plastic hybrid cabin monitoring car lenses, which can achieve driver monitoring and passenger monitoring in one, and has obtained platformization projects from multiple car manufacturers. Meanwhile, the 3 megapixel glass plastic hybrid car lens has been mass-produced.

Sunny's car lens customers mainly focus on Tier 1, including Bosch, Magna, Valeo, Continental, etc., and have close cooperation with algorithm manufacturers such as Mobileye.

LCE：There is a popular saying in the automotive optics industry, 'Sales are determined by Sunny, technology is determined by LCE'. LCE is a leading manufacturer of automotive lenses and modules in China, with a complete industrial chain layout of molded glass lenses modules.

LCE' revenue for car mounted lenses and modules increased by 910% year-on-year in the first half of last year. The company's industrialization project of producing 24 million intelligent car optical lenses and 6 million image modules annually is accelerating construction, and plans to form a production capacity of 50 million each for car mounted lenses and image modules by the end of 2025. After full production, the expected annual sales revenue is nearly 10 billion yuan.

Electrend learned from the automotive industry chain that the monthly delivery volume of Lianchuang Electronics' 8M in car lenses has exceeded 100000 sets, making it the world's largest optical supplier of this product.

3、 Module packaging

Early car mounted cameras had lower requirements for pixels and specifications, and Tier 1 manufacturers mainly used lower end BGA packaging technology. With the continuous upgrading of ADAS technology and the trend of miniaturization and high pixel of car mounted cameras, the packaging process of car mounted cameras has become more complex, gradually adopting COB packaging technology.

Many Tier1 believe that software profit margins are higher than hardware, so they no longer invest heavily in camera hardware business. So optical manufacturers gradually took on the packaging business of camera modules, serving Tier1 and even directly supplying the host factory.

Based on the development speed of China's intelligent vehicles and supply chain growth, Chaodian Think Tank estimates that 2025 will be a time point for domestic vehicle modules to compete with foreign counterparts. Moreover, a competitive echelon of the top ten domestic car module manufacturers has been formed.

At present, the main suppliers of car mounted camera modules include Panasonic, Valeo, Desay SV, SUNNY, Hikvision, JOC, LCE, OFILM, INVO, Longhorn, Tungthin and other enterprises.

Desay SV：As a representative of the traditional automotive Tier1, the camera is currently only a segmented product in its automotive electronics business, but its shipment volume has stabilized in the top three. The core competitiveness of Desai Xiwei lies in its ability to provide domain controllers, which is one of the few in China. Its rich product matrix has greater appeal to the entire machine factory.

At present, Desay SV has established good cooperation relations with domestic and foreign automobile manufacturers such as Volkswagen Group, Toyota Motor Corporation, Mazda Group, Volvo Cars, FAW Group, SAIC Motor Corporation, Geely Automobile, Great Wall Motor, GAC Group, Chery Automobile, Weilai Automobile, Xiaopeng Automobile, Ideal Automobile, etc.

Ofilm: Since 2015, Ofilm has established Shanghai Oufei Intelligent Vehicle Connected Technology Co., Ltd., specializing in intelligent driving, body electronics, and intelligent central control. Based on optical lenses and cameras, Ofilm has extended to products such as millimeter wave radar, LiDAR, head up display (HUD), and body domain controller (BCM/BGM). Currently, it has obtained first-class supplier qualifications from more than 20 domestic car companies.

According to Ofilm, the company's in car camera products have made significant progress, with 2M front facing three cameras and 8M front facing two cameras about to be mass-produced; 3M and 8M perimeter and rear view cameras have been mass-produced; Both 1M and 2.5M ambient cameras have been mass-produced; The 2M electronic exterior rearview mirror camera with heating function has been mass-produced; The DMS and OMS cameras in the cabin, both 1M and 2M, have been mass-produced, and 5M is currently under development.