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According to sources familiar with the matter, Korean smartphone maker Samsung is close to acquiring Israel-based technology company CorePhotonics. The deal could be worth $ 150 million.
CorePhotonics isn’t a company end consumers are too familiar with, but it has been one of the pioneers of the multi-camera trend in smartphones. Most notably it was the company behind OPPO’s 5x zoom module and was likely also involved in the creation of OPPO’s latest 10x zoom camera. It’s unknown at this point what the acquisition would mean for the relationship with OPPO.
The CorePhotonics name also appeared in the news when the company filed several law suits against Apple for patent infringement. The legal dispute is still ongoing.
Zoom reach is one of the very few areas where smartphone cameras still can’t keep up with stand-alone compact cameras and is likely going to be an important differentiator for brands when launching the next generations of smartphones. In this context the acquisition makes a lot of sense for a manufacturer like Samsung.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)