CMOS image sensors maker OmniVision Technologies will supply five-megapixel modules for the next iPhone expected to ship in summer 2010, Taiwan-based trade newspaper DigiTimes reported this past Wednesday. The well-connected publication quoted market sources who estimated OmniVision’s 2010 shipment of CMOS units for the next iPhone at 40-45 million units. The 2009 shipments will have totaled 65 million units, sources said, which includes 3.2-megapixel modules found inside the iPhone 3GS and 0.3-megapixel sensors utilized to record video on the latest iPod nano. DigiTimes first reported early-April that OmniVision secured both 3.2- and five-megapixel CMOS orders from Apple, beating STMicroelectronics and Aptina Imaging.

While 3.2-megapixel modules ended up in the iPhone 3GS and were expected in the third-generation iPod touch, DigiTimes believed those five-megapixel units were for “another Apple product expected to be launched later in the year.” Apple could theoretically employ five-megapixel CMOS units in a range of products, like notebooks, iMacs, and iPod touches, but most watchers believe those sensors will end up either inside the next iPhone or a rumored tablet.

Apple’s annual release schedule has iPhone upgrades this summer. Release of the fourth-generation iPhone is expected to coincide with Apple’s annual developer conference rumored to run between June 28 – July 2, 2010.

Read more at DigiTimes.

Christian’s Opinion

A two-megapixel camera had been singled out as one of drawbacks of the original iPhone, but Apple skipped the opportunity to improve camera resolution with the iPhone 3G. The iPhone 3GS sports a 3.2-megapixel camera, but critics view the 1.2-megapixel jump in resolution and autofocus as modest enhancements over the nearly three-years-old original iPhone. On the other hand, iPhone owners rarely complain about camera resolution, even though they’d benefit from, say, dual-LED flash and five megapixels. The only problem is, high-end smartphones could move away from five-megapixels to an even higher-resolution by the time the next iPhone arrives.