Kodak Moves Into Image Sensor Market

Company Delivers New Products, Forms New Alliances to Advance Imaging Capabilities for Camera Phones and Digital Cameras

Rochester, NY, - Eastman Kodak Company reached another milestone in its digital growth strategy with the announcement of new image sensors for mass-market products such as camera phones and digital still cameras. The company also announced important new alliances that will extend its reach in the market for image sensors.

The company announced availability of the first CMOS image sensor (CIS) devices to arise from its manufacturing alliance with IBM, as well as development of a reference design that incorporates these new image sensors with multimedia processors from Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI). Kodak also announced an agreement to license key CIS manufacturing technologies to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC).

A critical component in any digital imaging device, image sensors act as the "eye" of a digital camera by converting light into electric charges to begin the capture process.

"These announcements are tremendous examples of the speed with which Kodak is moving to grow its digitally-oriented businesses," said Mary Jane Hellyar, President, Display & Components, and Senior Vice President, Eastman Kodak Company. "We are very excited that our manufacturing alliance with IBM is now yielding its first products, and that we now are expanding our participation in this industry through new alliances with other leaders, such as TI and TSMC. The market for image sensors used in consumer devices is very exciting, and we will continue to move quickly to deploy our core competencies in image science and sensor research to participate strongly in these high-volume consumer applications."

Kodak's new three- and five- megapixel CIS devices -- the KODAK KAC-3100 and KAC-5000 Image Sensors -- are targeted to camera phone and consumer DSC and DVC applications. Both sensors incorporate KODAK PIXELUX technology, a proprietary design that offers manufacturers of consumer digital imaging devices improved image quality, higher performance, and more features than other CMOS-based image sensors on the market. The new products are manufactured at IBM's Burlington, VT, plant as part of the manufacturing collaboration announced last year between Kodak and IBM.

SOURCE: Eastman Kodak Company