Taiwan’s digital camera manufacturers are trying to enter new markets to make up for falling sales caused by the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets equipped with camera functions, market analysts said on Saturday.
Hoping to capitalize on their existing optics technology, digital camera suppliers are extending their reach to new product lines, such as gaming consoles, laser televisions, medical devices, face recognition technology and camera lenses for industrial automation, the analysts said.
Some digital camera makers are also upgrading their technology and getting involved in areas like ultra-pixel lens development, or developing value-added devices such as products that have Internet communications functions, they said.
Global shipments of digital cameras are expected to fall 20 percent from a year earlier to 70 million units this year, as smartphone sales rise.
That would be a 5 percent steeper decline than the 15 percent recorded last year, when digital camera shipments fell below 100 million units.
By contrast, smartphone shipments for this year are expected to rise 32.7 percent from a year earlier to 958.8 million units, according to researcher International Data Corp.
The diminishing digital camera market has particularly hurt companies such as Ability Enterprise Co (佳能), Altek Corp (華晶科), Asia Optical Co (亞光) and Premier Technology Co (普立爾), which specialize in manufacturing digital cameras for consumer use, forcing them to find alternative sources of revenue, analysts said.
Ability has responded by entering a niche market: high-end and ultra-thin camera modules used in digital cameras, smartphones, tablet computers, security control systems and cars.
It has also begun to produce sporty cameras that are waterproof, shockproof and dustproof to strengthen its competitive edge. In addition, it has also enabled some of its camera products to have Internet communications capabilities to broaden consumer appeal.
Altek said it has extended its reach beyond digital camera production since 2006 to manufacture optical devices to be used in cars, medical equipment, face recognition devices and surveillance monitors.
The company said it expected its non-digital camera business to account for 30 percent of sales this year, up from 15 percent last year, to make up for the shrinking digital camera market.
Asia Optical said it has launched a 50X zoom camera model that has received orders from US and European distributors such as Wal-mart Stores Inc and Argos Ltd.
Like Altek, it has also supplemented its digital camera production with other product lines, including gaming consoles, laser TVs and family theater products.
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
SUBSIDIES: The nominee for commerce secretary indicated the Trump administration wants to put its stamp on the plan, but not unravel it entirely US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency in charge of a US$52 billion semiconductor subsidy program declined to give it unqualified support, raising questions about the disbursement of funds to companies like Intel Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電). “I can’t say that I can honor something I haven’t read,” Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, said of the binding CHIPS and Science Act awards in a confirmation hearing on Wednesday. “To the extent monies have been disbursed, I would commit to rigorously enforcing documents that have been signed by those companies to make sure we get
RSS