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

Amidst a global slowdown in smartphone production and shifting brand strategies, smartphone camera module shipments are projected to dip by 8.9% year-over-year in 2023, reaching 4.065 billion units, according to research firm TrendForce. This downward trend is expected to persist in the near future.

However, with signs of recovery emerging in the mobile phone market, TrendForce anticipates a rebound in smartphone camera module shipments in 2024, reaching 4.171 billion units, representing a 3% increase from 2023. This growth is expected to be driven by renewed demand for smartphones and a resurgence in the adoption of multi-camera setups.

The agency said that after the smartphone pandemic in 2023, the economic recovery was sluggish than expected, and affected by global inflation, demand was sluggish. Therefore, some mobile phone brands adopted a more conservative production strategy, thus reducing the total output of the previous year. A decrease from 2022.

After 2023, as mobile phone manufacturers move closer to 50-megapixel main cameras, the existing 4-camera configuration in the center console is being reduced to 3 cameras.

TrendForce believes that due to the limitations of the internal space of smartphones, it is difficult to install larger optical lens modules and photosensitive elements on mobile phones. Therefore, software-assisted hardware to improve camera performance is becoming an important solution. AI can also optimize image results through improved algorithms. The ISP driven by artificial intelligence (AI) technology will intelligently identify the face, hair, eyes, glasses, objects and other elements in the picture, optimize them individually, improve the image quality, and finally reduce the user's complexity to achieve what the user wants. desired effect.