211: Chapter 211 Self-developed Sensors

"Mr. Shen, are you saying..."

The most shocked person had to be Huang Tianya. He often traveled to the United States and had even met Steve Jobs a few months ago.

Although he didn't seem like a normal person, just by looking at his appearance, you really couldn't tell he had any serious illness. His overall image...

Yet now, Mr. Shen says...

No, when the iphone 4 was released, Steve Jobs already seemed a bit off, but... he had already changed it several times, could it be...

It looks like he won't make it.

"Really?" Li Qing asked.

"Isn't this news too shocking..."

Wang Hua's face was also filled with disbelief. Was a hegemon of an era about to fall like this?

"That's right. The Steve Jobs era is coming to an end. There will be even more opportunities ahead, especially with the 4G era approaching. The opportunities and risks we face are doubling. The laboratory needs to prepare early..."

Chen Hai, Wang Mengyang, and the others nodded. At this moment, Wang Hua suddenly said, "Mr. Shen, our sensor should be close to a breakthrough as well. A couple of days ago, they said the tape-out was finished, and now it should be in the testing phase..."

On the other side, in the sensor laboratory.

Liu Fang held the sensor, her eyes filled with anticipation.

The sensor was very small, about the size of a fingernail, covered with a layer of glass. Under a microscope, one could see dense circuits and pixels.

The technical level wasn't particularly high—2 megapixels.

In 2011, this number sounded a bit laughable.

For mobile phone cameras, the mainstream used to be 5 megapixels or 8 megapixels, and Nokia even released a 41-megapixel monster.

But Liu Fang knew that this 2-megapixel sensor had a different significance. Because it was made by Transsion itself.

"Director Liu, the test results are out." Wang Feng ran over and handed over a report.

He was the head of the sensor team, over 50 years old, and had been deeply involved in the semiconductor industry since graduation. He was not that conceptual god from the music industry, nor that person who could never reach the top of the trending list no matter what he did.

This was a technical expert Transsion had poached from Sony. He had worked there since graduation—a truly top-tier talent. This chip was developed by them.

S20 Image Sensor.

Low-light performance: Signal-to-noise ratio of 28dB, close to the 29dB of Sony's IMX145.

Power consumption: 65mW, 15% lower than Sony's.

Estimated cost: $1.8, 40% lower than Sony's. (Note: With mass production, costs are expected to drop to $1.3.)

She looked up at Wang Feng.

"Is this real?"

Wang Feng grinned, revealing teeth stained yellow by smoke:

"Absolutely true, Director Liu. We've succeeded."

Wang Feng immediately showed an excited expression. For this period of time, in order to develop this chip, he had been living in the laboratory and hadn't even had time to smoke.

Now that the first phase of the project was over, what next?

Naturally, continue research and development. Smoke? Why smoke? Do you think the bonus is too much?

This was only 2 megapixels. 5 megapixels, 8 megapixels, 12 megapixels, and even Nokia's 41 megapixels.

Besides pixels, the sensor size of 1/3.0 was still too small. A series of projects like 2.0 inches were waiting for them to conquer. And, of course, the high project bonuses.

Liu Fang stood there, suddenly feeling very emotional.

The core of this team was a surveillance team acquired from Suzhou. At that time, the whole team had only twenty-something people, and the members were very diverse; there were almost no professionals.

At the time, when Transsion acquired them, everyone thought they were fools.

Some engineers in the project also felt it was unbelievable.

Sensors? That was the world of Sony, Samsung, and OmniVision. It would be decent enough for a Chinese manufacturer to make a surveillance CMOS, but to make a sensor...

One could only say it would be good enough just to survive; you wanted to compete with them?

But Shen Fei said: "If we don't do it, we will always be someone else's lackey. If a major earthquake happens in Japan in the future, or a fire in South Korea, wouldn't we be at the mercy of these suppliers?"

At the time, everyone still took this as a joke. After all, earthquakes in Japan were indeed quite common.

But for it to cause production stoppages that threatened the entire industry, that was almost... a once-in-a-century event.

But as it happened...

Just when the whole industry was booming, Transsion produced its first CMOS. Although it wasn't a high-end product, it was usable. More importantly, from today on, Transsion would no longer have its throat held by Sony when it came to sensors.

Sometimes they really admired Shen Fei; his mouth seemed blessed. His strategic planning always managed to hit the trends precisely.

Liu Fang took a look and immediately called Shen Fei excitedly.

"Boss, I'm at the sensor factory. Our CMOS has had a breakthrough and is ready for mass production."

On the other end of the line, everyone laughed.

"Look at Director Wang, what a coincidence. How long has it been, and the call is already here."

"It seems our technology is indeed capable. We completed the testing work in just two days. Congratulations to Director Wang on the project breakthrough."

Hearing the chattering sounds from the other side of the phone, Wang Feng also felt a surge of pride.

But Shen Fei knocked on the table. The first self-developed sensor was indeed worth commemorating, but this was only a 2-megapixel one. It could be celebrated, but they absolutely must not be arrogant...

"How are the parameters?"

Shen Fei said lightly, causing everyone to immediately stop their celebrations.

Right, this was just a 2-megapixel lens, usually only usable on Feature phones, the Enjoy series, and the honor play.

Liu Fang recited the numbers again on the other end of the line.

"It's just close to Sony's IMX145 from the same period. Although this result is quite good, it's still far from the results we expect."

"Yes, Mr. Shen. The low-light performance is a little bit worse, but our power consumption is lower, and the cost is lower." Liu Fang also understood what her boss meant, and the excitement in her tone diminished a little.

"Okay, this sensor is quite good. In other aspects, how is the yield rate?"

The expression on Shen Fei's face softened significantly. After all, the stick was to keep them from being too arrogant, and the carrot was because this matter itself was worth being proud of...

"Currently 72%, and still adjusting. It can reach 85% within three months." After Liu Fang finished speaking, a burst of laughter came from the other end of the line. The source of the sound was Shen Fei.

"This yield rate is acceptable; the cost will be able to drop a bit more by then. Wang Feng, thank you for your hard work. You will be included in the celebration banquet for Mingyong's side."

"When can this batch of sensors be mass-produced? We are waiting," Chen Hai also said with a smile.

"Our marketing department is ready to promote it at any time to help you pull in orders."

With Shen Fei's statement, laughter also came from the other side of the phone. But Shen Fei waved his hand at this moment: "Hand this sensor over to Honor and have them use it for the launch of the honor 3... optimize it while using it. Only use it for our high-end models; wait until the yield rate comes up before talking about anything else."

"Understood."

"However..." Shen Fei suddenly smirked, "Before that, we can borrow a stage to perform. After all, since others have already set the stage, if we don't come up and sing a couple of lines, then..." The people in the conference room also started to smirk... Good idea.