Track Hyper | Domestic CIS Technology Reaches the Top: Is it again Howey Technology?

Author: Zhou Yuan / Wall Street News

On March 3rd, at the MWC 2025 conference, Xiaomi globally launched its pre-research technology - "Xiaomi Modular Optical System." This system is incorporated into an independent peripheral lens, which Xiaomi refers to as a "magnetic camera-grade lens" that can be attached to the back of the Xiaomi 15.

What sets this lens apart is that it contains a CMOS (Image Sensor: CMOS Image Sensor) itself.

Wall Street News has exclusively learned from authoritative supply chain sources that this CMOS is developed and supplied by OmniVision, a subsidiary of Will Semiconductor.

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun revealed in a video program that the sensor equipped in this lens is called "M43"; however, in the promotional video released by Xiaomi, this sensor is referred to as "Light Shadow Hunter X," and its CMOS size is "twice as large" as that of a 1-inch large sensor.

This is, to date, the largest optical lens sensor in the mobile phone industry globally.

However, the exact model of this CIS remains unknown.

According to previous information from Wall Street News, OmniVision's largest CIS is 1 inch, but it has not yet been mass-produced. As for a 2-inch (or close to it) CIS, there has never been any related news, and the internal confidentiality level is extremely high.

Who is OmniVision?

In 2019, Will Semiconductor acquired OmniVision through capital operations, at which time OmniVision's market share was less than 10%, with products concentrated in the mid-to-low-end market.

After that acquisition, Will Semiconductor promoted OmniVision's transformation towards high-end through resource integration and technological investment.

The year 2020 became a key turning point for OmniVision: its first high-end sensor, OV48C, was used in the main camera of the Xiaomi 10 Ultra commemorative edition, featuring a 1/1.32-inch large sensor, 48 million pixels, and PureCel Plus technology, achieving high scores in DXOMARK evaluations for the first time.

This move broke the monopoly of Sony and Samsung and opened the curtain for domestic CIS to enter the high-end flagship smartphone main camera market.

Since then, OmniVision's technology iteration has accelerated:

• Pixel competition: from 48M (OV48C) to 64M (OV64B/OV64A), and then to 50 million pixels (OV50H) becoming mainstream.

• Process breakthroughs: pixel size shrank from 0.7μm (OV64B) to 0.61μm (OV64A), balancing high resolution and small size

• Multi-scenario coverage: The trend of secondary cameras becoming primary cameras is very popular, with OmniVision's 13-megapixel/8-megapixel sensors widely adopted by models such as Xiaomi 11 Pro and vivo X60 Pro+.

Xiaomi is the most important driver of OmniVision's high-end strategy. The cooperation logic between the two parties is that Xiaomi reduces supply chain risks through early technology validation, while OmniVision quickly iterates products using Xiaomi's flagship models, forming a positive cycle of "technological breakthrough - market validation - large-scale production."

This is a classic case of Xiaomi cultivating domestic supply chain capabilities.

The cooperation with OmniVision is mainly divided into three stages:

• Ice-breaking period (2020-2022): The Xiaomi 10 Ultimate Edition first adopted the OV48C main camera, validating the reliability of OmniVision's technology; the OV64B was introduced as a secondary camera in OPPO and vivo flagship models, expanding market recognition.

• Deepening period (2023): The OmniVision OV50H sensor became the core main camera of the Xiaomi 14 series, with its 1/1.3-inch large sensor, dual conversion gain (DCG) technology, and QPD autofocus helping Xiaomi 14 sales exceed 2 million units. During the same period, models such as iQOO 12 and Honor Magic6 also fully transitioned to OV50H, forming a domestic flagship "OmniVision camp."

• Leading period (2024-2025): This refers to the CIS in the independent external lens launched by Xiaomi, with the model unknown but specifications being the industry's top level. Xiaomi may become a leader in advancing mobile imaging towards professional levels.

Since 2020, OmniVision's CIS technology has made rapid progress.

First, there have been significant advancements in large size and high dynamic range.

The main technological highlights and iterative evolution route include - OV48C (2020): 1/1.32 inches, DCG HDR technology, laying the foundation for large sensors; OV50H (2023): 1/1.3 inches, dual conversion gain (DCG) and H/V QPD focusing, with a dynamic range of 13.5EV and a 42% reduction in power consumption; OV50K (2024): 1 inch, LOFIC technology, achieving ultra-high dynamic range and highlight suppression, ranking among the industry's top configurations.

Secondly, innovations in pixel miniaturization and processes have been made.

For example, 0.7μm pixels (OV64B): the world's smallest 64-megapixel sensor, suitable for ultra-thin secondary cameras; 0.61μm pixels (OV64A): breaking physical limits to meet the high-resolution needs of front-facing cameras.

It is worth mentioning OmniVision's wafer-level packaging (CCC: Camera CubeChip) technology: integrating optical components and sensors, applied in ultra-small devices such as medical endoscopes - here is a limited spoiler, OmniVision's CCC packaging technology paves the way for the company's ultra-micro CIS to be used in top-tier AI micro-consumer devices.

Third, OmniVision's CIS is not limited to smartphones; a significant portion is also used in automotive-grade fields. This part of the technology is mainly used for vertical integration and ecological expansion.

In the automotive electronics industry, OmniVision's automotive CIS has a global market share of 29%, covering multiple scenarios such as ADAS and surround view; there are also emerging markets, including AR/VR and medical imaging The cooperation between OmniVision Technology and Xiaomi reflects the significant improvement in domestic supply chain technology.

The OV50H for 2023 and 2024, namely Xiaomi's Light Hunter 900 and Honor H9000, outperforms Sony's IMX766, leading manufacturers such as Huawei, Honor, and iQOO (a sub-brand of vivo) to successively turn to OmniVision.

This collective behavior of domestic smartphone manufacturers has raised the security threshold of the domestic supply chain, accelerating the "de-Sony" trend among domestic smartphone manufacturers, loosening the dominance of Sony and Samsung, with OmniVision's market share rising from 10% in 2020 to over 15% in 2024; driven by OmniVision, domestic manufacturers like SmartSens have also quickly followed suit and made significant progress.

From OV48C to the 2-inch super large sensor, the collaboration between OmniVision Technology and Xiaomi is not only a "domestic replacement" in the supply chain but also a competition for technological discourse power.

As mobile imaging approaches physical limits, whether the two parties can continue to lead in new battlegrounds such as computational optics and sensor fusion will determine the ultimate height of domestic CIS.

The "Xiaomi Modular Optical System," a pre-research technology globally launched by Xiaomi, features independent lenses that include sensors, which are actually a milestone in domestic CIS technology.

Behind this is a deep cooperation and technological advancement between OmniVision Technology and Xiaomi Group that has lasted for five years, marking a turning point for domestic CIS from being a "substitute supporting role" to becoming the "core of the main camera."