The News

Varioptic and Creative Sensor Announce Liquid Lens Mass Production in China

15/01/2007

Lyon (France), 15 January 2007 – Varioptic, the liquid lens company, and Creative Sensor Inc. of Taiwan, a world leader in imaging systems for the scanner and MFP (Multiple Function Printer) industry, announced today the mass production of variable focus liquid lenses.

Varioptic signed a production deal with Creative Sensor (Wuxi, China) in August 2006. Creative Sensor set up the production line for liquid lenses with the support of Varioptic.  The manufacturing capacity is now at 100,000 liquid lenses per month and will be increased to 1 million units per month by the end of 2007.

Production quantities in Wuxi include Varioptic’s new 7.75-mm lenses, Arctic 416, aimed at camera phones, as well as the previously introduced devices, Arctic 320, for use in webcams, barcode readers and medical equipment.

Commenting on this next phase in the development of production, Philippe Prat, Vice President of Operations at Varioptic said: ‘the step up of production is in line with our strategic objective to meet the volume requirements for the camera module and mobile phone market. Varioptic has now established itself as a leader in liquid lens manufacturing thanks to working very closely with our partner CSI.’

Doris Hsu, President of Creative Sensor added: ‘We are delighted to continue our cooperation with Varioptic.  We consider this as an important step forward to meet the increasing demand for liquid lenses from the mobile industry and other industrial devices.’

About Creative Sensor
Established in 1998, a listed company on TSEC, Creative Sensor Inc. is the world’s largest contact image sensor manufacturer. The CAGR is 210% in 2001-2005.

The achievement awarded by Deloitte,
- 2005 Ranked 21 of Fast 50 Taiwan
- 2004 Ranked 37 among Technology Fast 500 in Asia Pacific

Creative Sensor has the state-of-the-art technology and the system integration know-how for optical device and sensors. With manufacturing facilities in Taiwan and Wuxi, China, Creative Sensor has realized world-class production scales through its unique manufacturing technologies, creating a diverse range of contact image sensors. Strict quality control through every phase of design and production establishes high quality and customer trust; in October 2000, Creative Sensor obtained ISO-9001certification, October 2004, obtain ISO 14001 certification, the TS16949 system is under qualifying, the complete management system that perfectly supports our efforts toward absolute quality. For more information, visit
http://www.csi-sensor.com.tw

About Varioptic
Varioptic is the world leader in liquid lens technology supplying liquid lens solutions to meet optical autofocus requirements for a wide range of markets.  Founded in 2002, Varioptic pioneered the development of Electrowetting Technology to create revolutionary auto focus and zoom lenses with no moving parts.   Liquid lenses feature several crucial advantages over traditional technologies in terms of robustness, cost, size, ease of integration, power consumption and speed. 

Press contacts
Nathalie Combrousse     Philippe Ruffin
Marketing Communication Manager   Product Marketing Manager
nathalie.combrousse@varioptic.com  philippe.ruffin@varioptic.com
Tel.: +33 (0)4 37 65 47 31    Tel.: +33 (0)4 37 65 19 35