JiWei network message, "Haven't you noticed that periscope cameras are rare on mobile phones now?" ”
In view of the current smartphone camera market, veterans who have long been concerned about the mobile phone camera industry have made such comments. The reason, he said, is that the periscope camera has a more complex structure and more expensive cost than the ordinary telephoto camera, in addition, the product size and lack of practical use are a problem.
A mobile phone camera industry insider told Jiwei Network that the high price of periscope cameras is mainly caused by product yields, tests and other links, and the price is expensive and lack of practical use is an important reason for its neglect, but this year, Samsung will still use periscope camera products on smart phones.
The above-mentioned industry insiders believe that the periscope camera will not disappear on the mobile phone, the mobile phone brand manufacturers will continue to develop this product, and next year Apple mobile phones will also load this product, so it is difficult to evaluate how this market will be in the future.
In the era of high pixels, periscope cameras have risen rapidly
Smart phones mainly rely on the cooperation of 2-3 fixed focus lenses to achieve the "optical zoom" of the mobile phone, of which the telephoto lens is the core of the dual and multi-camera "optical zoom", the higher the zoom multiple, the higher the height of the telephoto camera. However, due to the thin and light design of smartphones, the thickness of the phone is not enough to support the height of the high-power telephoto camera.
So there is a periscope camera.
It is understood that the periscope camera is the original vertical placement of the camera in the mobile phone horizontal emissions, and with a special light to turn the microprism, so that the light refraction into the lens group, for the lens group to provide a longer space choice, to solve the problem of optical path, to avoid the body thickening due to the zoom lens, so on the road of optical innovation, the periscope camera has been favored by mobile phone brand manufacturers.
Innovative products are often found on flagship machines, and periscope cameras are no exception. Judging from the disclosed news, in 2019, Huawei, oppo, vivo, these major mobile phone brands for the first time equipped with periscope camera products.
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Among them, Huawei P30 Pro was equipped with an 8-megapixel 5X periscope telephoto lens for the first time in 2019, supporting up to 50 times digital zoom, which caused a huge sensation in the industry.
The Huawei P30 has achieved good results since its listing. According to the disclosed information, after 85 days of listing, the sales volume of Huawei's P30 series exceeded 10 million units, 62 days earlier than the previous generation of Huawei's P20 series. In the entire product cycle, the sales volume of Huawei's P30 series exceeded 20 million units.
In the same year, on the basis of the triple-camera structure, OPPO pioneered and integrated the 10x hybrid optical zoom technology of the Reno series to officially meet consumers through various technical methods such as periscope structure, D-Cut, and original resonance motors.
Vivo also has a periscope camera product in its X30 Pro, and by 2021, the periscope camera is rapidly rising in the mobile phone market. According to the statistical data, the periscope camera in 2021 has been applied to Huawei, OPPO, vivo flagship products, and has also been adopted by mobile phone brands such as Samsung and Xiaomi for the first time, of which Xiaomi is the first time to apply the periscope camera product to the Xiaomi 10 Youth Edition of this thousand yuan machine product.
In terms of quantity, the number of smartphones equipped with periscope cameras has increased from about 3 in 2019 to about 7 in 2020, a total increase of more than 2 times.
2021 is the highlight of the periscope camera on the mobile phone.
According to rough statistics, the periscope camera mobile phone products increased from 7 in 2020 to 11 in 2021, of which in addition to the TOP mobile phone brand equipped with this product, Sony, Motorola and other mobile phone brands have also begun to load this product on the mobile phone.
However, it should be noted that OPPO, which was the first to propose the concept of periscope, has uncharacteristically given up the position of the 2021 Find X3 Pro periscope camera to a new protagonist - a microscope lens.
Surprisingly, by 2022, the periscope camera will be significantly reduced on the mobile phone side, and it seems to be rapidly slipping away from its highlight moment. According to a mobile phone camera industry insider, in 2022, few mobile phone brand manufacturers on the periscope camera project, however, from the current situation, the periscope camera will not disappear in the mobile phone market, on the contrary, next year Apple will also join the periscope camp.
What is the reason for the snub?
From the mass production of "broken shells" to the application of many mobile phone brands, after the periscope camera has experienced a highlight moment, why is it now snubbed by mobile phone brand manufacturers?
In fact, there are already traces to follow.
Earlier, Lu Weibing said on Weibo that the biggest disadvantage of periscope telephoto cameras is "expensive" and "big", not to mention expensive, today every device is grabbing the limited space of the mobile phone, every small space is very valuable, after all, the battery, fast charge, camera, etc. are very space-taking, and also thin and light, so the periscope "big" is very difficult.
It can be seen that the dilemma faced by mobile phone manufacturers in the process of mass production of periscope cameras is self-evident. In response to the reason why the periscope camera has been neglected, some insiders have communicated with the micro network that the original mobile phone brand manufacturers intend to penetrate the smart phone products equipped with periscope cameras to the low-end market, but due to high cost, large position, and lack of practical use, it is not over, and in the high-end market, it is impossible to reflect the role of periscope.
In other words, high cost, size and value mismatch are important reasons why periscope cameras are neglected. It is understood that in terms of pure price, the current price of a single periscope mobile phone camera is more than 10 US dollars, while a single ordinary telephoto camera is only a few US dollars, which shows that the unit price gap between the two products.
The person also admitted that from the current situation, the high-end mobile phone market rarely has periscope projects, but the periscope camera will not disappear on the mobile phone side, in addition, next year Apple will release a smartphone equipped with periscope camera products.
It is understood that as early as a few weeks ago, analyst Jeff Pu had said that the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will be equipped with a periscope telephoto lens with 10x optical zoom. According to the latest news from Jeff Pu, Apple is testing a periscope lens assembly that supports 5x optical zoom instead of 10x optical zoom, and will determine which company will supply it in May this year.
According to the mobile phone industry, Lante Optics is likely to take this opportunity to supply optical prism products for Apple's new machine next year.
However, from the current market feedback, compared with the screen, the innovation in the field of mobile phone cameras in 2022 is particularly weak, in addition to multi-camera, 3D cameras, periscope cameras in the mobile phone side of the demand has obviously slipped, non-mobile phone market will be a commercial treasure to be continued to develop.
(Proofreading/Sara)