Sony Contemplates Subscription Service for its AI-Integrated Sensor

Reuters: Sony plans to sell software by subscription for data-analyzing sensors with integrated AI processor like the recently announced IMX500.

“We have a solid position in the market for image sensors, which serve as a gateway for imaging data,” said Sony’s Hideki Somemiya, who heads a new team developing sensor applications. Analysis of such data with AI “would form a market larger than the growth potential of the sensor market itself in terms of value,” Somemiya said in an interview, pointing to the recurring nature of software-dependent data processing versus a hardware-only business.

A software-centered approach will require a change of mindset at a division accustomed to abiding by specifications of smartphone makers - just five of whom account for the bulk of its revenue, said Somemiya.