LG Innotek, AOE join hands to lead vehicle, XR camera module markets

South Korea’s major camera module maker LG Innotek Co. has joined hands with AOE Optronics Co., an automotive lens-making subsidiary of Taiwan-based Asia Optical, to consolidate its leadership in the global vehicle and extended reality (XR) camera module markets.

The major camera module supplier for Apple Inc.’s iPhones announced on Thursday that it has acquired stakes in the Taiwanese company in a deal that will forge the two companies’ partnership in developing crucial optical components, mainly special lenses for camera modules.

They did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

LG Innotek pins high hopes on its partnership with AOE to bolster its market leadership in automotive and XR camera modules, demand for which is proliferating as automakers push for higher levels of autonomous driving.

The Korean company, already one of the world’s leading mobile camera module suppliers, has invested heavily in recent years to reinforce its technological leadership in vehicle and XR camera modules.

AOE is a globally renowned optical lens developer, with leading technology in developing lens materials and modules, as well as mass production capability.

As demand for aspherical glass lenses, a core component of high-resolution cameras, grows in line with the global push for autonomous driving, AOE with a specialty in automotive camera module lenses is garnering increasing attention in the industry.

Its lens supply to automakers in North America has seen a steady rise.  

JOINT LENS DEVELOPMENT

Under the agreement, LG Innotek and AOE will jointly develop camera module lenses.

A camera module is an image sensor integrated with a lens, control electronics, and an interface like CSI, Ethernet or plain raw low-voltage differential signaling.

The Korean company will share its expertise in optical system design, automated manufacturing process and advanced quality controlling system, while the Taiwanese partner will provide its know-how in its proprietary material development and molding and precision optical lens manufacturing technology.

Their jointly developed lenses will be applied to core optical components for vehicles and XR machines.

The latest deal will also guarantee a stable supply of camera module lenses for LG Innotek.

“LG Innotek will rapidly diversify its portfolio with camera modules for vehicles and XR gears,” LG Innotek Chief Executive Officer Moon Hyuk-soo said after the deal.

The company invested 1.4 trillion won ($1 billion) from 2022 to 2023 in expanding facilities for semiconductor substrates and camera modules.

Last year, the company also announced it would spend $1 billion to build a new camera module factory at its production complex in Hai Phong, Vietnam to more than double its production capacity in the Southeast Asian country.

Earlier last year, LG Innotek unveiled a plan to expand the two-metal chip on film (CoF) business to lead the XR component device market.

Write to Ye-Rin Choi at rambutan@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.