Institution: Smartphone camera module shipments will decrease by 8.9% annually in 2023

According to research firm Jibang Consulting, due to the decline in global smartphone production and the trend of brand manufacturers' adoption, it is expected that the global shipment of smartphone camera modules will continue to decrease in 2023, with a year-on-year decrease of 8.9% to 4.065 billion units. However, it is expected that the mobile phone market will recover in 2024, and camera modules will grow by 3% to approximately 4.171 billion units.

The organization stated that in 2023, smartphone demand was weak due to a weaker than expected economic recovery after the epidemic and the impact of global high inflation. Some smartphone brands adopted a more conservative production strategy, resulting in a decrease in total production compared to 2022.

From a trend perspective, mobile phone manufacturers have gradually chosen to move closer to a 50 megapixel main camera since 2023, and the previous 4-camera configuration of mid-range phones has gradually been reduced to a 3-camera configuration.

Jibang Consulting believes that due to the limited internal space of smartphones, larger optical lens modules and photosensitive components are difficult to carry on mobile phones. Therefore, in order to improve camera performance, software assisted hardware will become an important solution. Through AI enhancement algorithms, imaging results can also be further optimized. It is expected that artificial intelligence (AI) technology driven ISPs can intelligently recognize various elements in the image, such as face, hair, human eyes, glasses, or various items, and optimize them separately to improve image quality, thereby reducing user complexity in the later stage. Pressing the shutter can achieve the expected effect.