Two things that customers usually look for in a phone are long battery life and a good camera. However, those two things often seem to be at odds with each other.
Taking photos uses a notable amount of power, enough to drain phone batteries with excessive use. However, Sony has announced that it could reduce the drain with its new partnership.
Last week, Sony and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) announced that they would be teaming up to develop next-generation image sensors.
“Building on the trust cultivated through our long-standing collaboration with TSMC, I am delighted that we have reached an agreement to advance our partnership to a new stage,” said Shinji Sashida, President and CEO of Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation.
This partnership could pave the way for Sony, an established camera and smartphone manufacturer, to further improve battery life in phones like the Vivo X200 Pro, which uses Sony’s LYT-818 sensor, as well as its own upcoming phones.
That sensor is reportedly built on a 22nm manufacturing process, which is less efficient than smaller process nodes. Most smartphones these days are using 3 or 4nm chips, with TSMC aiming to get to 1.2nm chips by 2029, per its latest roadmap. The new partnership could see Sony using smaller process nodes for its camera hardware, which could help reduce power draw and heat generation.
Kevin Zhang, TSMC senior vice president and deputy co-COO, also shared that the long-term partnership between the manufacturers could represent the ‘key step forward’ in this AI-powered smartphone era.
Header image credit: Shutterstock
Source: Sony Via: Android Authority
