Ambarella Inc.

Ambarella Inc.
Public
Traded as NASDAQ: AMBA
Industry Semiconductors
Founded 2004 (2004)
Headquarters Santa Clara, California, United States
Key people
 Feng-Ming (Fermi) Wang (CEO)
Les Kohn (CTO)
Chan Lee (VP of VLSI)
John Ju (VP of Software)
Didier LeGall (EVP)
Number of employees
 600+ (2016)
Website www.ambarella.com

Ambarella, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA) is a developer of low-power, high-definition (HD) and Ultra HD video compression and image processing products. The company’s products are used in a variety of HD and Ultra HD cameras including security IP-cameras, sports cameras, wearable cameras, flying cameras and automotive video camera recorders. Ambarella compression chips are also used in broadcasting TV programs worldwide.

Ambarella is the recipient of the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) 2010, 2011, and 2012 award for "Most Respected Private Semiconductor Company". Ambarella became a public company in 2012 and has since received the GSA 2013 award for "Favorite Analyst Semiconductor Company" as well as the GSA 2014 award for "Most Respected Emerging Public Semiconductor Company”.[1]

The CEO, Feng-Ming (Fermi) Wang, has received a Glassdoor rating of 100%. The company itself has a Glassdoor rating of 4.1 stars out of 5.[2]

History

Founded in 2004, Ambarella started with professional high definition H.264 video encoders for the broadcast market. In 2006, Ambarella applied this technology to consumer video cameras and later to the security IP camera market.

Ambarella has been a market leader for video broadcasting, consumer video cameras and also security IP cameras, powering GoPro cameras with HD video (1080p)[3] and now Google wearables.[4]

The main driver for Ambarella's business is the security and surveillance market. IP security cameras constitute 45 percent of its business, and that segment is growing 25 percent year-over-year. Automotive after-market cameras (dash cameras) and flying cameras (cameras on UAVs) are other key growth markets for Ambarella's video chips.[5]

Products

Ambarella produces system-on-chip (SoC) video chips. In January 2015, it released its latest integrated SoC. Fermi Wang, President and CEO of Ambarella, explained, “The adoption of 4K Ultra HD video has been accelerating across consumer electronics markets,” said “The Ambarella H1 will enable a new generation of sports and flying cameras with high frame rate Ultra HD video, bringing professional-quality film making to the consumer.”[6]

Ambarella also produces an A12W ultra-low-power HD camera (SoC) which can encode a full HD video stream and a second HD stream for dual-lens cameras. It also features Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) for stable video recording during motion. The A12W supports long battery life requirements of wearable security cameras.[7]

Timeline [8]

2004
  • Ambarella founded
2005
  • A1 introduced, a single-chip 1080i60 H.264 broadcast-class encoder
2006
  • First Ambarella-enabled consumer-level HD video cameras in mass production
2007
  • A2 introduced and chosen by consumer electronics brands
2008
  • A3 introduced, a single-chip 1080p60 H.264 broadcast-class encoder
2009
  • A5 introduced, a 65-nm video and still picture camera chip
  • A6 broadcast HD encoder and transcoder introduced
2010
  • A5s introduced, Ambarella’s first 45-nm chip
  • A7 introduced, a 45-nm 1080p60 HD camera chip
2011
  • iOne introduced, a camera applications processor for Android-based smart camera-centric devices
  • A7L introduced, Ambarella's first 32-nm 1080p60 camera SoC
2012
  • S2 introduced, an Ultra HD 4K encoder chip targeting the IP camera market
2013
  • A9 introduced, an Ultra HD 4K camera SoC
  • A7LA introduced, an automotive camera SoC
2014
  • MotorVu™ 360 introduced, a 4-channel automotive camera solution
  • S2L introduced, a 28-nm 1080p120 IP camera chip
  • S3 introduced, an Ultra HD 4Kp30 H.265/HEVC and 4Kp60 H.264/AVC IP Camera SoC
2015
  • A12W introduced, a 28-nm wearable camera SoC
  • H1 introduced, an Ultra 4Kp60 H.264/AVC and 4Kp30 H.265/HEVC sports and flying camera SoC
  • A12S and A9SE are introduced, 28-nm SoCs for flying cameras
  • The S3L family is announced: H.265/HEVC and H.264/AVC 28-nm SoCs targeting professional and consumer IP camera applications
2016
  • H2 introduced, a 14nm Ultra HD 4Kp120 H.264/AVC and 4Kp60 HEVC sports and flying camera SoC
  • H12 introduced, a 4K Ultra HD SoC family supporting H.265/HEVC and H.264/AVC encoding targeting consumer applications
  • S5 introduced, a 14nm Ultra HD SoC capable of 4Kp60 H.264/AVC and 4Kp60 H.265/HEVC targeting professional IP camera applications

SoC Comparison

SoC Release Node Encoding
A1 2005 - 1080i60 H.264
A2 2007 - 1080i60 H.264
A3 2008 - 1080i60 (A350) H.264
1080p60 (A380) H.264
A5 2009 65nm 720p60, 1080p30 (A530) H.264
720p60, 1080p30, 1080i60 (A550) H.264
5.3Mp60, 1080p60 (A570) H.264
A6 - 1080p60 H.264
A5s 2010 45nm 1080p30 + VGAp30 H.264
A7 45nm 2160p15, 1440p30, 1080p60, 720p120 H.264
iOne 2011 - 720p60, 1080p30, 1080i60 H.264
A7L 32nm 1080p60 H.264
S2 2012 32nm 2160p30, 1080p120,H.264
A9 2013 32nm 2160p30, 1440p60, 1080p120, 720p240 H.264
A7LA 32nm 3Mp30, 1080p30 H.264
MotorVu 360 2014 32nm 4x 1080p30 H.264
S2L 28nm 1080p60 H.264
S3 28nm 2160p60 H.264
2160p30 H.265
A12W 2015 28nm 1440p15, 1080p60 H.264
H1 28nm 3Mp30, 1080p30 H.264
A12S 28nm 2160p60, 1440p120, 1080p240 H.264
2160p30, 1440p60, 1080p120 H.265
S3L 28nm 5Mp30 H.264 & H.265
H2 2016 14nm 2160p120, 4320p30 H.264
2160p60 H.265 (10-bit)
H12 28nm 2160p30 H.264 & H.265
S5 14nm 2160p60 H.264
2160p60 H.265 (10-bit)

References

  1. ↑ http://www.ambarella.com/uploads/docs/company-fact-sheet.pdf
  2. ↑ "Ambarella Reviews". Glassdoor.
  3. ↑ Klug, Brian (2013-01-13). "Ambarella announces A9 camera". Anandtech. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  4. ↑ Santos, Alexis (2014-01-09). "Wearable Google Helpouts streaming camera shares GoPro heritage". Engadget. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  5. ↑ http://www.cnbc.com/id/101810846
  6. ↑ "Ambarella H1 Camera SoC Doubles Ultra HD Frame Rate for Sports and Flying Cameras". Yahoo Finance. 6 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "Ambarella A12W Reference Design Kit Enables New Generation of Wearable Police and Security Cameras". Yahoo Finance. 6 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "The Ambarella Story".

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.