Major changes are taking place in the field of smartphone imaging technology, with the withdrawal of old giants, the rise of new powers, and the reshuffling of foreign brands. The core of this change is computing power and algorithms, who master powerful computing power and advanced algorithms, who can occupy an advantage in the image track.
1. Huawei's imaging technology brand has withdrawn from the historical stage
In 2022, Huawei announced the termination of its cooperation with Leica, ending a 16-year imaging technology partnership between the two companies. This marks the retirement of Huawei's imaging technology brand.
Huawei made this decision for the following reasons:
Huawei terminated its own imaging brand and focused on 5G and cloud services. Affected by the US sanctions, Huawei had to abandon its smartphone business and shift its focus to other areas such as 5G communication equipment and cloud services.
Huawei's imaging technology team is facing disbandment. Due to the termination of the imaging brand, the original team specializing in the research and development of imaging technology will also be disbanded, and the loss of personnel is serious.
Huawei gave up the imaging market, and vivo seized the opportunity to quickly cut in. Huawei's withdrawal from the imaging market has provided development opportunities for other mobile phone manufacturers such as vivo. vivo acted quickly and reached a global imaging strategic cooperation with ZEISS to enter the high-end imaging market.
2. Vivo's self-developed chips lead the industry
In stark contrast to the withdrawal of Huawei's imaging technology brand, vivo's self-developed imaging chips are leading the industry.
vivo's self-developed image chips V1, V1+, V2, and V3 surpass Qualcomm Snapdragon in performance. After three years of continuous research and development, vivo has launched four generations of self-developed image chips, of which the performance of V2 and V3 even surpasses today's mainstream mobile chips.
vivo's imaging strength has been rapidly improved, challenging the leading position in the industry. With the powerful computing power of self-developed chips and advanced imaging algorithms, vivo's imaging strength has been rapidly improved, and it continues to challenge the industry's leading position in subdivided scenarios.
The vivo chip is independent and controllable, and the domestic substitution process is accelerating. vivo's self-developed chips are completely independent and controllable domestic chips, which represent a key step taken by domestic mobile phone manufacturers in the localization of chips.
3. Will the ZEISS co-name be held?
In the context of the withdrawal of Huawei's imaging technology brand and the rise of vivo's self-developed chips, the whereabouts of foreign brand Zeiss have also attracted much attention.
ZEISS and vivo have reached a long-term strategic cooperation. In 2020, ZEISS and vivo officially signed a strategic cooperation agreement on global imaging, and the two parties will carry out in-depth integration at multiple levels of mobile imaging.
ZEISS lens patents are expected to be applied to vivo mobile phones on a large scale. According to the cooperation agreement, a number of patented technologies such as T* coating and optical image stabilization will be applied to vivo's flagship models to improve image quality.
The quality of ZEISS lenses is well-known all over the world, and the co-branding with vivo enhances the brand influence. With 175 years of optical tradition, ZEISS has earned its lenses the "Eagle Eye". The collaboration with vivo helps to expand ZEISS's presence in the field of mobile imaging.
The new pattern of smartphone imaging is being reshaped, the independent innovation of domestic chips has become a development trend, the withdrawal of traditional giants has left room for emerging forces, and foreign brands are also seeking new cooperation opportunities. The competition in imaging technology will become more intense, and whoever masters the leading computing power and algorithms will be able to dominate the development direction of mobile imaging.