In the sad state that Sony currently finds itself, it usually means that when news comes out about the company, it’s not all that colorful. That in turn means the coverage we provide you tends to be a bit of a downer though we try our best to find some form of silver lining. For once, Sony has made that easier on us by reporting a jump of 16% from their imaging sensor business to 360 billion yen ($3.52 billion). Currently, Sony sensors can be found on the industry-leading iPhone 5S and Samsung Galaxy 4 but that’s not where the major growth has come for Sony.

With the rise of “selfies” on mobile devices, more and more smartphone manufactures want to place a better front facing camera. This in return has caused an uptick for Sony who makes some of the best sensors in the industry with considerable volume coming from Chinese smartphone makers who are looking for a chance to break out. Under Sir Howard Stringer, the company’s previous CEO, Sony followed a business practice which had them turn down requests from other smartphone makers to use the company’s image sensors. Sir Howard believed that Sony shouldn’t share what makes their devices special with their competitors.

 Why would I make Apple the best camera? 

Of course, his false viewpoint is an absurd one that left a lot of money on the table. Samsung currently provides the majority of processors used inside of the iPhone, despite the two companies being bitter rivals; Sony creates computers running Windows while PlayStation heavily competes with Microsoft. Under Kaz Hirai, Sony has luckily been able to recognize the miscalculation of that strategy and is now reaping the rewards from it.

Discuss:

Do you think Sony’s image sensor division will continue to be one of the company’s saving graces?