It was rumored for the longest time that like Apple, Samsung also wanted to make a car, but that was never officially confirmed. The company's actual strategy is to become an important supplier of components like batteries, chipsets, and camera modules to car manufacturers.
To that end, many of the companies under the Samsung umbrella are introducing advanced components meant to improve the capability and safety of cars. Samsung Electro-Mechanics is set to soon mass produce one such component, a “weatherproof” camera module that even boats heating capability.
Samsung's new automotive camera modules are much better than rivals
These new weatherproof camera modules from Samsung Electro-Mechanics will meet the growing demand for improved image quality in vehicles with advanced self-driving features. Accidents can happen when these camera sensors don't work properly. Kwak Hyung-chan, a principal engineer at the company, said these modules “have been developed to withstand extreme weather conditions with better specs than existing products.”
The water-repellent coating applied to the modules has a longer lens lifespan compared to similar products. Samsung has developed this coating to maximize the water-repellency angles and made it 1.5x stronger against wear from dust, dirt, and scratches. Kwak also said that this product has 6x the lifespan when compared to current products.
Since vehicles also operate in extreme cold temperatures, Samsung has developed a lens heating technology that swiftly melts frost or snow within one minute, faster than competing products. The durability of the module has also been improved through a hybrid lens that combines the strength of plastic and glass lenses.
There's increasing demand for automotive camera modules. New vehicles typically come with four to five cameras and this number is slated to be a minimum of 20 in the future. Samsung Electro-Mechanics is looking to tap into this demand, projecting its share of automotive camera modules to rise from 10% in 2023 to 24% by 2025.
