Light may not be a name many are familiar with, but in the Android smartphone industry, it’s the firm that was responsible for developing the main camera of HMD Global’s Nokia 9 PureView. Now it appears that the imaging company is calling it quits and exiting the smartphone camera industry altogether.
Light confirmed its departure to Android Authority recently, stating that it is “no longer operating in the smartphone industry”, but didn’t provide further details or an explanation about its decision.
As a company, Light first came to prominence with the launch of its Light L16 compact camera back in 2015. The device features 16 lenses and features like HDR and high resolution image capture. But was criticised for its long list of flaws, which includes an exorbitant price tag, slow processing speeds, and allegedly horrid low-light performance.
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In the case of the Nokia PureView 9 that launched last year, the smartphone is one of the only devices that a penta-camera main array, developed by Light. Comprising three 12MP monochrome sensors and two 12MP colour sensors. Surprisingly, neither camera sensor was wide-angle, nor did any of them have telephoto capabilities.
Nokia isn’t the only smartphone company that had a partnership with the camera firm. At the time of writing, the company can count both Sony and Xiaomi as respective partners, both of whom had signed up with the brand as early as last year. That said, it’s still unclear how Light’s decision will now affect the two smartphone brands.
(Source: Android Authority)
