Myeong-seok Chae, Gounee Yang Global Economic News SOUTH KOREA overtook Japan as the world’s largest image sensor producer last year and the country’s largest tech companies are still expanding rapidly. The average global installed capacity for image sensors was estimated to be about 1 million 200mm wafers per month at the end of last year, according to U.S. market analysis firm Knometa Research. Global image sensor production capacity is expected to increase 13% from a year ago to 1.13 million wafers this year. Demand for digital imaging is increasing in every field, including mobile phones, automobiles, machine vision, security cameras, webcams and drones. It is expected to increase 12.5% annually over the next five years from this year to 1.8 million per month by the end of 2026. South Korea’s image sensor production capacity accounted for 43% of the world’s total last year, larger than Japan (35%) and China (16%). However, by company, Japan’s Sony still topped the image sensor production last year. It has maintained its position as the largest supplier since 2014. Sony is currently operating eight 300mm wafer fab lines in four regions in Japan, including Nagasaki Fab 5 that started mass production last year. South Korea’s Samsung Electronics became the second-largest supplier in the world with its smartphone products. Samsung is producing image sensors at its 300mm fab facility in Hwasung. | 