據(jù)路透社消息，索尼日前宣布將投資 350 億日元（約 3.45 億美元）提高用于手機(jī)與平板設(shè)備的圖像傳感器產(chǎn)量。這一舉措意味著索尼在向手機(jī)廠商示好，以便未來拿到更多前置攝像頭訂單。 除主要向蘋果iPhone供應(yīng)外，來自中國(guó)新興企業(yè)的洽購(gòu)也正在增加。 索尼稱，公司將增加九洲兩家工廠的 CMOS(互補(bǔ)金屬氧化物半導(dǎo)體) 傳感器產(chǎn)量，同時(shí)完成對(duì)日本芯片生產(chǎn)企業(yè)瑞薩電子旗下一家工廠的收購(gòu)交易。這兩筆投資金額總計(jì)為 350 億日元。 作為蘋果 iPhone 后置攝像頭傳感器的供應(yīng)商，索尼表示收購(gòu)將幫助公司提升傳感器產(chǎn)量，到明年 8 月，每月晶圓產(chǎn)量可達(dá) 6.8 萬(wàn)塊，距離公司 7.5 萬(wàn)塊的中期目標(biāo)更加接近。 圖像傳感器是索尼的優(yōu)勢(shì)領(lǐng)域，據(jù)日本調(diào)查公司Techno Systems Research統(tǒng)計(jì)，公司在市場(chǎng)上領(lǐng)先于豪威科技（OmniVision）等其他企業(yè)，2013年索尼CMOS傳感器的全球份額(按金額計(jì)算)為33%，排在首位。OmniVision的圖像傳感器主要用于智能手機(jī)前置攝像頭，其分辨率通常低于后攝像頭。 今年 3 月索尼曾表示，隨著用戶對(duì)自拍與視頻通話的需求增加，智能手機(jī)廠商正在考慮提高前置攝像頭的成像質(zhì)量，而索尼也希望增加用于前置攝像頭的圖像傳感器產(chǎn)量。 索尼今年在半導(dǎo)體資本開支上的預(yù)算為 650 億日元，其中也包括了投資金額中的 90 億日元，公司將在下一財(cái)年的前兩季度逐步支付剩余的 260 億日元。 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 參考英文原文：Sony Invests in Stacked Image Sensor Manufacturing Capacity,by Peter Clarke

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{pagination} Sony Invests in Stacked Image Sensor Manufacturing Capacity Peter Clarke Sony Corp. has said it plans to invest 35 billion yen (about $340 million) to increase its production of stacked CMOS image sensors in support of demand for them in smartphones and tablet computers. Of the budgeted amount, Sony said it plans to spend 3 billion yen at its Nagasaki site and 6 billion yen at its Kumamoto site in the current financial year. The remaining 26 billion yen will be spent at Nagasaki in fiscal year 2015. In January 2014 Sony announced its plans to establish and invest in Yamagata Technology Center (Yamagata TEC) as a facility mainly conducting the mastering process for stacked CMOS image sensors (see Apple Wants More Sony Sensors, Says Nikkei). The latest investment is expected to enable Sony to complete subsequent stages of production, including the layering process, at Nagasaki TEC on semiconductor chips that have undergone the mastering process at Yamagata TEC, providing Sony with a fully integrated production system for stacked CMOS image sensors. The stacked image sensor process makes the back-illuminated pixels on a separate wafer to the circuits used for signal processing. Mastering of this stacked structure refers to the manufacture of the photodiodes and wiring the stacked CMOS image sensors together. This investment forms part of Sony's mid- to long-term plan to increase its total production capacity for image sensors to approximately 75,000 wafers per month, and is expected to increase the current capacity of approximately 60,000 wafers per month to approximately 68,000 wafers per month in August 2015. Sony was the leading supplier of CMOS image sensors in 2012, according to Yole Developpement. Sony had 21% of the market ahead of Omnivision on 19% and Samsung on 18%.