Winbond lands CMOS module order from Motorola, sources say

Taiwan DRAM maker and IDM Winbond Electronics has landed CMOS image sensor module orders from Motorola and will begin shipping a small volume this quarter, with volume shipments slated for the second half of the year, according to sources.Sources said the module would be bundled with Winbond’s camera controller chip, supporting VGA-resolution (350,000-pixel), low-power SDRAM and a CMOS image sensor supplied by a Taiwanese vendor. Winbond will ship these modules to Motorola’s Tianjin, China plant, where they would be incorporated into handsets with detachable digital still cameras (DSCs), sources added.Winbond declined to comment on the news but said it does expect to begin shipping camera controller chips in the second half of the year.Sunplus Technology is the only other Taiwanese company that supplies camera controller chips for camera phones. The chip designer has been shipping VGA and CIF-resolution (100,000-pixel) camera controller chips for Nokia handsets with detachable DSCs since the fourth quarter of last year. Its monthly shipments are estimated at 100,000 units.To further widen the gap with Winbond and potential newcomers, Sunplus recently designed-in 1.3-megapixel camera controller chips with its clients.Taiwan-based Micron Technology is expected to enter the market in the second half of the year.Source: DigiTimes