BOISE, Idaho-Phones continue to represent a major opportunity for electronics suppliers, with Micron Technology Inc., Spansion L.L.C. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. all announcing new components for handset makers.
First up, Micron released new image sensors for 3.1-megapixel and 5-megapixel gadgets, including camera phones. The company said its low-noise, high-sensitivity DigitalClarity technology ensures sharp, clear images while extending a device’s battery life.
“Mobile is the biggest market for us,” said Farhad Rostamian, director of marketing for Micron’s imaging business.
Rostamian said the mobile-phone market eventually would evolve to support high-resolution cameras, including those with up to 5 megapixels. According to Micron, a 5-megapixel resolution will result in photo-quality printouts of up to 8 by 10 inches. As more mobile-phone users replace their handsets, Rostamian said, they gradually would expect higher camera resolutions.
Micron currently supplies camera-phone image sensors to most of the industry’s top handset makers.
Separately, Spansion announced its new Package-on-Package (PoP) Flash memory products, which the company said will help handset makers build smaller phones.
“As wireless devices become more and more sophisticated, they require Flash memory solutions that offer increased code and data storage in a package that doesn’t increase the form factor of the end product,” said Amir Mashkoori, executive vice president of Spansion’s Wireless Solutions Division. “Just as our initial multi-chip packages helped transform the memory industry by reducing the footprint for system memory, these new PoP solutions represent the next evolution in packaging innovation.”
Finally, Samsung released a number of new products, including new Flash memory components, new image sensors for digital cameras, new semiconductors, as well as new Subscriber Identity Module card applications.
