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One buys his ski pass in the summer……….there is ZERO snow on the moutains

One Buys his Skiis and clothing in the summer………there is ZERO snow on the mountains

One Buys Omnivision in the fall when Blood in the streets and NOBODY can see the future of Omnivision Wave Front Coding before it happens………………then, the SNOW FLIES, the Skiis turn, and Omnivision soars on ramping holiday sales………..or, so I hope!

In a 3/6/06 EE Times article titled “Omnivision tips instant focusing for phones” it says that omnivision is readying a new 3.2 megapixel sensor in a 1/4 inch optical format along with the instant focus (WFC). Omnivision has a 1/4 inch 3.18 micron pixel (Omnipixel)1.3MP sensor…a 1/4 inch 2.2 micron pixel (Omnipixel 2) 2MP sensor….and now it looks like they are coming out with, i am guessing,about a 1.6 micron pixel size in order to cram 3.2MP into a 1/4 inch format. I am assuming they will call this (Omnipixel 3). I wonder if this is the new technology that Jess was refering to in the conference call that should be unvailed very soon. From what I have been reading, there are low light sensitivity challenges in sub 2 micron pixel sensors. If WFC allows more light to reach the sensor while still increasing the depth of field then I believe WFC will also give us the advantage of better performance in sub 2 micron sensors verses other competitors. This could give us a huge advantage in the race to drive up the resolution in cell phones to 3MP. Just look at a 5/25/06 release at IC Insights titled “Image sensors sales will cross $7 billion in 2006″. It states that 3MP will definitely be the sweet spot for the new 2.5 and 3G camera phones. There is also an interesting chart in that article that forcasts the future progression up to the higher resolutions in camera phones. In 2008 they predict that VGA will be down to only 10% of all camera phones. I think there is going to be some very interesting OVTI announcements this month. Like most here, I was very disappointed with the last call but I am still very optimistic about the future of this company. There is a reason they are doubling their fab capacity and spending 100 mil on extra back end capacity.

Borrowed from Investor Village=======thanks to Poster!

skibare

from the Conf Call:::

Jess Lee, VP, Mainstream Products

“Let me answer your question in a couple of different ways here. So between Peter and I we talked newer technologies being adopted in newer products. So wafer encoding is just one of those, that is as you said for the higher end, and as you can probably guess those have not been huge volumes compared to VGA 1.2 and 2. So, the other part of what I said was…maybe I should be more clear…is there will be newer technologies adopted into the lower end, mid range, and even 2 megapixel products. So, we’re looking forward some of these newer technologies coming out fairly soon.

Today, August 31st, and September 1st, OmniVision got an ole fashioned A$$ Whuuupin behind the woodshed. Earnings were posted and a .02 cent miss and a crappy outlook for one quarter has DROPPED the price by ALOT! Where does she close???? WHAT impact will Wave Front Coding have in a few weeks as OmniVision DEMONSTRATES the Wave Front Coding technology in the coming years on a market share of 1.5 BILLION CAMERA PHONES for 2010???????

Stock Markets always REACT and overreact…………if you had NO position into OVTI today, you would see a very profitable company INVESTING 100 Million into Cap EX to improve packaging and remove back end manufacturing capacity constraints that in two quarters will pay off handsomely over time.

OVTI delivered NET INCOME and continues to deliver NET INCOME and the guidance for one quarter going forward basically sucked but LIFE is not a straight line straight up. With Wave Front Coding GOING TO BE DEMO’d for Wall Street in coming weeks and Jess Lee talking “”NEW IMPROVEMENTS”‘’ into lower end high volume cameras, I will GUESS that in SIX MONTHS, OVTI will recover and do very nicely and a DOUBLE from $15’s is in the cards for next NINE MONTHS timeframe ……….last fall at $12 and $13, NOBODY in their right mind would BUY OVTI=====guess that Qualifies a fruit cake like me to be buying!!!!

Skiing, Living Life, and following OVTI…………I am what I am!

FruitCakeNutBallSkibare

LG Electronics selects OmniVision as CMOS supplier : OmniVision, a supplier of CMOS image sensors, announced a strategic relationship with LG Electronics to be the preferred supplier for its fast growing camera phone business. In order to support the number one CDMA phone supplier, OmniVision will expand its Korean operations by hiring additional staff and working with its module partners to ensure capacity for 2006. OmniVision expects to supply camera chips for over 50% of LG’s camera phone shipments this year. According to market research firm Strategy Analytics, LG Electronics leads the world in CDMA phone sales with a 21.2% worldwide market share and over 22 million CDMA handsets sold in the first 3 quarters of 2005.
LG Electronics Camera phones
In overall handset sales worldwide, LG ranks among the four largest handset makers, which include Nokia and Motorola, with a 7.4 percent market share. “LG Electronics sold over 15.5 million GSM and CDMA handsets worldwide in the third quarter alone,” said Mr. S. K. Kim, Vice President, Mobile Communication Company of LG Electronics Inc. “Camera phones will be an important growth driver in our handset business in 2006, with more than 70 percent of total handset shipments likely to include a camera. We are pleased to build on our strong existing relationship with OmniVision and to have their commitment to support our technical and logistical requirements. OmniVision support will allow LG Electronics to capitalize on the anticipated growth in camera phone demand.”

OmniVision’s CMOS image sensors
“We are delighted that our strategic partnership with LG continues to flourish,” said Jess Lee, Vice President of OmniVision’s Mainstream Products Business. “By constantly improving product performance, quality and customer care, OmniVision continues to differentiate itself by supporting customers, not only with CMOS image sensors, but with total camera solutions.”

Come August 31st,  the story will be told……….

<<<<<• Omnivision filed its FY06 10K on Friday. We have updated our
model to reflect cash-flow details, but there are no material changes.
Takeaways include the following:
• OVTI shipped 155mm sensors in FY06, up 68% y/y.
• OEM and VAR business decreased to 69% from 79%, with the shift
favoring distributors, and marking ongoing commoditization, in our
view. The top three customers accounted for 41% of sales, down from
46% last year; so OVTI’s business diversified slightly. Sales to China
(up 67%) and S.Korea (43%) increased significantly, whereas sales to
Japan decreased 18%, but this simply reflects to where the handset
industry has shifted in 2005.
• Headcount increased 89% y/y to 1644, with sales increasing 120% to
137, and R&D increasing 44% to 238. 85% of staff are employed
outside of the US, principally in China. US and foreign patent awarded
increased over 50% to 126; with 286 on file, so R&D appears to be
yielding intellectual property.
• Backlog increased 123% y/y to $134.5mm, partly owing to scale, but
also due to shortening supply, which appears to be forcing OEMs to
extend orders out further; increasing OVTI’s visibility.
• Reiterate Overweight. At 9.4 times CY07E PF EPS of $1.88, a 51%
discount to the mean of our coverage, we believe OVTI is significantly
undervalued. OVTI is sitting on $6.19 per share of cash and trades at an
ex-cash P/E multiple of 6.7 times CY07E cash PF EPS estimate of $1.70.
Short interest in the stock remains high (over 20%) and the stock looks
well positioned to outperform heading into the seasonally stronger 2H06.>>>>>

seems we have a ‘’break in the ranks'’ of the analyst to find one who will actually MENTION Wave Front Coding coming in 2007……….today, FEAR , FUD, and competition SINKS the PPS of OmniVision by 4% today and 4% yesterday………….they got 8% in two days of FUD!
OmniVision Technologies initiated with “neutral”
Friday, August 25, 2006 3:17:21 AM ET
Pac. Growth Equities
NEW YORK, August 25 (newratings.com) - Analyst Satya Chillara of Pacific Growth Equities initiates coverage of OmniVision Technologies Inc (OVTI.NAS) with a “neutral” rating.
In a research note published yesterday, the analyst mentions that the company is expected to have captured about 25% of the image sensor market and is focusing on cell phones. The acquisition of CDM optics is expected to enable OmniVision Technologies to boost revenue content in mobile phones by 2007, the analyst says. Competition in the image sensor market is intensifying with the entry of DRAM companies, Pacific Growth Equities adds. OmniVision Technologies’ revenue growth in the October quarter is expected to be adversely impacted by changes in the order patterns from Chinese ODMs, Motorola and different regions, according to the analyst.

Revenue during the April quarter was $132 million and the earnings were $0.39 per share. Revenue for fiscal 2006 was about $492 million and the earnings were a record $1.56 per share. Our balance sheet at the end of the quarter remains strong. Our cash and short-term investments totaled about $355 million.

During the quarter, slightly more than 70% of our revenue came from the mobile handset market; just under 10% came from the digital still camera market; and about 20% of our revenue came from our Advanced Product Group, which includes security and surveillance, high end video game consoles, web cams and mobile PCs, and automotive products. We are delighted to conclude our fiscal year 2006 by posting another quarter of strong year-over-year growth and record annual revenues.

During the fiscal year, we were able to take advantage of an excellent demand environment with our customers enjoying the benefit made on our OmniPixel architecture. We also took the next step forward by introducing our OmniPixel2 architecture. These architectures enabled a number of sensors, including the world’s first megapixel sensors on a quarter-inch form factor.

Going forward, we expect this architecture to be the basis for the majority of our new products. With multiple designs wins in both Mainstream and Advanced Product markets, we anticipate a return to sequential growth in the July quarter, throughout the second half of calendar 2006 and beyond.

Our goal as a Company has always been to be the image sensor of choice in the market that we serve. Over the years, we have accomplished this by introducing the right products at the right time.

As I mentioned, we were the first to introduce a 2 megapixel sensor on a quarter-inch form factor. When we introduced the 2 megapixel sensor in the fall of 2005, we were a couple of quarters ahead of the competition. Beginning in the July quarter, we will recognize our first revenue from this product as we drive it into the mainstream.

In fact, between now and Christmas, one of our tier 1 customers will be introducing more than a half dozen products using our 2 megapixel sensor. The handset makers are very excited about this resolution, because this is the first time in which the world is seeing digital still camera image quality in a camera phone.

We also introduced the OV3630-VL, which allows the handset customer to upgrade their camera phone from 2 megapixel to 3 megapixel with our mechanical design changes. This drop-in replacement for the 1/3 inch camera model significantly reduces our customers’ time to market for these handsets.

Wednesday August 23, 10:01 am ET SAN MATEO, CA–(MARKET WIRE)–Aug 23, 2006 — Actually, it’s happening now. The number of cameras — standalone and embedded — used worldwide has increased by 600 percent in just the past four years and it will double again over the next five years. Total number of cameras of all kinds sold in 2000: 85 Million units. Projected 2008 sales: One Billion units. The surge in image capture devices and the spread of the Internet and wireless communications are democratizing the power of visual communication on a global scale.

to put it mildly, this GROWTH is expanding and straight north…….from 2.4 billion last year, 3.2 billion predicted this year and exploding to 5.6 billion in 2008! OmniVision is going to rocket come August 31st earnings report which will show the company returning to SEQUENTIAL GROWTH

The new 5M-pixel CIS marks a new milestone in digital imaging excellence,” said Yong-Hee Lee, vice president of Samsung Electronics’ System LSI Division. “We are committed to introducing advanced imaging technologies for optimal performance on mobile and digital consumer applications.”

Samsung has also completed development of a 3.2M-pixel CIS — the S5K3C1FX — for camera phones. Pixels measure 2.25 by 2.25 microns in a 1/3-inch lens aperture with serial interface applied for accelerated data processing speeds.

Market analyst firm Gartner Dataquest predicts that the global CIS market will increase from US$2.4 billion in 2004 to US$3.2 billion this year and surge to US$5.6 billion by 2008.

Autofocus: Hot topic
Camera phones are typically equipped with small, fixed plastic lenses. “Without autofocus, anything closer than 60cm gets blurred, while anything farther than 20m also blurs,” said TransChip’s Adar.

At the 3GSM World Congress last February, TransChip demonstrated an autofocus variant for camera phones. But camera phones equipped with autofocus remain a rarity. “Autofocus based on a very simple voice-coil system is too big and bulky for a thin camera phone,” said OmniVision’s Lee, and “its cost adder is about $4.” The technology’s ability to clear the stringent drop test—as high as 1.5m—required for camera phones is another concern. The drop test for DSCs isn’t as rigorous.

Many image-sensor designers are turning their attention to the disparities between advanced image sensors and the basic plastic optics used in today’s camera phones, seeking solutions that can bridge the performance gap.

Guy Michrowski, VP of marketing and sales at Dblur Technologies Ltd, cited two reasons for the industry’s passion for new optics solutions. First, he said, “sensors are making gigantic steps forward, while the optics have remained the same.” Second, with the recent reductions in pixel size, “image sensors are starting to suffer.”

Software lens
The industry must “break away from the physical limitations of optical design,” Michrowski said.

Dblur plans to replace the physical lens with a “software lens system” that combines a customized, Dblur-designed physical lens with a proprietary image-processing IP core. The first target for the technique will be autofocus capability, but the company claims the basic technology can likewise be applied to yield superior photo quality, simplified optical zoom or substantially reduced product height for the camera phone.

OmniVision, which acquired CDM Optics last year, promises to deliver a high-volume autofocus feature called OmniFocus for camera phones later this year. By applying CDM’s patented optical-encoding technology, called Wavefront coding, OmniVision claims that OmniFocus can decode an optically encoded out-of-focus image to turn it into a sharp image in an increased depth of field.