Patent Office, 707 patent applications for smartphone camera lenses from 2011 to 2015

The technological competition in smartphone cameras started with a competition over the number of pixels in image sensors and has recently expanded to a competition over lenses.

As the number of pixels increases, the area occupied by each pixel becomes smaller, so the lens aperture must be larger to receive a sufficient amount of light for each pixel. In addition, the resolution of the lens must be sufficiently high to correspond to the increase in the number of pixels in order to expect improved photo quality. However, with ultra-slim phones becoming the trend, lens modules have size constraints, so there is a task of pursuing miniaturization and weight reduction along with improved performance.


▲ Exhibition visitors taking pictures with their smartphones

According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO, Commissioner Choi Dong-gyu), there were a total of 707 patent applications for smartphone camera lenses from 2011 to 2015. The number of applications by year shows a steady increase: 102 in 2011, 122 in 2012, 155 in 2013, 162 in 2014, and 166 in 2015.

By technology, ‘auto focus (AF) and drive system technology’ was the most prevalent at 39.9%, followed by ‘housing and assembly structure technology’ at 20.2%, ‘lens optics, aperture system, and filter technology’ at 13.9%, ‘optical image stabilization (OIS) technology’ at 11.3%, ‘manufacturing and inspection technology’ at 10.0%, and ‘zoom and multiple-angle technology’ at 4.7%. The increase in applications for ‘optical image stabilization technology’ and ‘auto focus (AF) and drive system technology’ was particularly notable. This is understood to reflect recent consumer demand for high-performance, high-function cameras.

▲ Status of patent applications related to smartphone camera lenses


▲ Status of patent applications by technology field related to smartphone camera lenses

By applicant, Samsung Electronics had the most with 161 applications (22.8%), followed by LG Innotek with 158 applications (22.3%), Samsung Electronics with 38 applications (5.4%), and LG Electronics with 38 applications (5.4%). It was also revealed that mid-sized companies such as Jahwa Electronics with 35 applications (5.0%), Optis with 26 applications (3.7%), and Sekonix with 20 applications (2.8%) are also actively pursuing technology development.

Meanwhile, there were a total of 1,288 PCT international patent applications, with LG Innotek filing the most (81 applications, 6.3%), followed by Samsung Electronics filing the most (45 applications, 3.5%), Samsung Electronics filing the most (1.6%), Apple filing the most (1.6%), and Largan Precision (Taiwan) filing the most (1.6%), showing that domestic companies account for the majority of the top applicants.

A patent office official said, “In the current situation where smartphone manufacturers and component material companies are intricately intertwined, the competition in the smartphone market is becoming fiercer day by day, so we need to protect patent competitiveness related to lenses, which are the core technology of cameras and are considered the most important competitive point of smartphones. “It takes effort,” he said.