TowerJazz, CMOSIS ink image sensors deal
Market source says agreement with Antwerp-based company will contribute tens of millions of dollars in revenue to Israeli chipmaker
CMOSIS' CMV 12000 product is targeted at various markets such as industrial inspection, broadcasting and motion analysis.
In 2010, TowerJazz and CMOSIS first began collaborating on the CMV product line.
An Israeli market source who asked not to be identified estimated this agreement would contribute tens of millions of dollars in revenue to TowerJazz in 2014.
TowerJazz, which makes chips used in smartphones like Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy models as well as battery chargers and AC/DC adapters, submitted a bid last month to build a semiconductor plant in India with Indian infrastructure company Jaypee and an unnamed technology firm, which Indian media say is IBM.
In the past few quarters, TowerJazz has faced a decline in sales of its discrete components - chips that are not integrated circuits - as consumers opt to buy tablets instead of more expensive and larger personal computers. Tablet makers use fewer discretes, which take up a relatively large area.
But Chief Executive Russell Ellwanger said the discretes business was starting to recover, helped by the fact that people upgrade tablets more frequently than PCs and by the expansion of discretes into larger consumer goods, where they can help cut power usage.
"In the second quarter we're moving close to our forecasted numbers and the third quarter promises to hit forecasted numbers. That's a very promising sign," he said.
