Semiconductor producer TowerJazz (Nasdaq: TSEM; TASE: TSEM) said today that Sunnyvale, California'-based Canesta Inc. is using TowerJazz's technology to make its CanestaVision 3D image sensors.
Market sources estimate that the deal will add $200-300 million in annual revenue to TowerJazz. According to data supplied by TowerJazz, iSuppli says that the CMOS image sensor market was $7.3 billion in 2007, and it is expected to grow to $9.7 billion in 2012.
Canesta will use TowerJazz’s CMOS image sensor (CIS) technology. CanestaVision chips are the industry's world’s first single-chip CMOS 3D image sensor system on a chip (SoC) for use in consumer desktop computing, TV and entertainment applications. Next-generation consumer 3D image sensors designed to enable a device to understand and interact with its environment will fuel the image sensor market.
3D image sensors enable consumers to interact with devices in natural ways and TowerJazz expects them to be widely deployed in a variety of markets including PC, consumer electronics and entertainment, and other industry applications. New mechanisms in which a user's actions or gestures drive the functions of a device have been proven by the success of recent video game and mobile phone products.
Canesta president and CEO Jim Spare said, “We have a great deal of sophisticated and unique intellectual property in our chips. We are excited to have the use of TowerJazz’s advanced CMOS image sensor manufacturing processes.” Spare explained that 3-D image sensors are critically important to evolve to natural user interfaces for complex consumer electronic products.
TowerJazz, led by CEO Russell Ellwanger, is based in Migdal Ha'emek.
TowerJazz shares closed at $1.48 on Friday, giving a market cap of $302.6 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 21, 2010
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