Vivo's Ascent To Becoming The King Of Mobile Photography

While most people will claim that smartphones have become iterative, a quiet revolution in smartphone photography is unfolding. At its heart is an unlikely alliance between Vivo, a Chinese smartphone manufacturer marking its tenth year in India, and Zeiss, a German optical systems company with over a century of expertise. This partnership has propelled Vivo from a brand once known primarily for selfie cameras to a frontrunner in smartphone imaging technology.

On a warm autumn day at the end of July, two key figures in this revolution convened at Vivo's recently concluded Tech Day in New Delhi to discuss the journey that has redefined mobile photography with BW Businessworld. The Delhiite Keshav Chugh who is based at Vivo's headquarters in Shenzhen was visiting along with Zeiss veteran Oliver Schindelbeck from Germany – they revealed the partnership was formed during the peak of Covid when no in-person meetings were possible.

Keshav Chugh, Vivo's Imaging R&D Expert, is often seen in a black t-shirt, cap, and sneakers, with tattoos adorning his forearms. But beneath this exterior lies a passionate camera aficionado, his collection of iconic cameras a testament to his deep interest in photographic technology. His collection includes iconic Leica rangefinders to Hasselblad and Fujifilm hardware which all would cost a small fortune.

"For me, raw material quality is crucial," Chugh explains. "Your final dish depends on the quality of the raw materials and hardware."

A Legacy of Expertise

Oliver Schindelbeck, Senior Smartphone Technology Manager at Zeiss, brings decades of experience in mobile optics. The bald, spectacled expert, often clad in polo neck t-shirts with a proudly embossed Zeiss logo, has witnessed the journey of smartphone photography since its inception.

"When we started 20 years ago, the pixel size was 3.2 microns, and everyone said, 'Such small pixels—you're only going to get noisy images!' " Schindelbeck recalls. "Yet each subsequent generation has shrunk pixel sizes while increasing image quality."

Market Dominance Through Innovation

The Vivo-Zeiss partnership has proved to be a winning formula in India's competitive smartphone market. According to the latest IDC Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker released in August 2024, Vivo has solidified its position as the leading smartphone brand in India. The data shows Vivo holding a 16.5 per cent market share in Q2 2024, up from 16 per cent in the same quarter of the previous year, representing a year-over-year unit growth of 6.7 per cent.

This growth is particularly impressive given the overall market conditions. While the total Indian smartphone market grew by 3.2 per cent year-over-year, Vivo outpaced this growth significantly. The company's performance is even more notable in the mid-premium segment (USD 400<USD 600), which saw an overall decline of 25 per cent in unit terms, shrinking to a 4 per cent share of the total market, down from 5 per cent a year ago. Despite this segment contraction, Vivo emerged as the major gainer, leading with a commanding 25 per cent share, followed by OnePlus and Oppo.

The Genesis of a Game-Changing Partnership

Vivo's ascent in the camera phone market began in earnest with the X50 series, but it was the X60 that marked the beginning of the fruitful partnership with Zeiss. Geetaj Channana, Vivo's head of corporate strategy reflected on the company's evolution: "We have had the V-series in India since we started. We have been focusing on selfie cameras from the V-series, and they were growing quite rapidly. But at a point in time, you realise that you want a bit more, and consumers were wanting a bit more from us."

This desire for advancement led to the unconventional union with Zeiss. The partnership quickly bore fruit. "Now we have the X100. We have come a long way—worlds apart," Schindelbeck noted, emphasising the rapid progress made in just a few years.

The Symbiosis of Hardware and Software

In an era where smartphone hardware is often perceived as commoditised, Vivo and Zeiss have managed to carve out a distinctive niche. Chugh challenged the notion of hardware commoditisation, pointing to innovations like the APO cameras in the X100 Pro and X100 Ultra. "It's the first time an APO camera, a telephoto camera, has come to smartphones," he noted with pride. "We're achieving that APO chromatic level of clarity and integrating a 200 MP sensor into such a large module."

But hardware is only part of the equation. The team emphasised the critical interplay between hardware and software in achieving superior image quality. Schindelbeck put it succinctly: "Every photon of light that does not reach the sensor is lost. Algorithms and AI can do amazing things, but if they don't have the facts, they have to guess in a good way."

The V-Series Chip: A Game Changer

This philosophy has led to the development of Vivo's V series chips, now in its third iteration with the V3 Plus. Chugh likened it to a "very good manager" that excels at delegation, efficiently scheduling which algorithms run where and when. "When it comes to algorithms, it has to schedule which algorithm needs to run when, at what optimisation, at what level, and how much power is needed," he explained.

The evolution of these chips has been rapid. "Now, we started with the V1 chip that we integrated into the X80—this chip was 12nm, and now we are already down to 6nm. We have halved the transistor size in just three years—less than three years," Chugh revealed, highlighting the pace of innovation.

Localising for the Indian Market

Understanding that different markets have unique needs, Vivo has invested heavily in localising its camera technology for Indian consumers. While core algorithm development happens at the company's headquarters, much of the testing and tuning occurs in India.

"We have now developed our own quality and testing team in the Noida factory that has been working for a long time," Chugh explained. This team focuses on creating test scenarios that reflect Indian environments. "We develop scenes based on what we think is more useful for Indian users, like how Indian homes look from the inside, how Indian restaurants appear, and how Indian clubs look."

The Evolution of Mobile Optics

For Schindelbeck, who has been in the mobile optics field for over two decades, the progress has been nothing short of remarkable. He traced the evolution from the early days of Nokia phones with Zeiss optics to today's sophisticated systems.

"The optical designs have become more and more complicated. We started with four lens elements, and now we're at five, six, seven, eight," Schindelbeck recounted. "The designs are getting more compact while using different materials. At the same time, we develop the sensors. When we started 20 years ago, the pixel size was 3.2 microns, and everyone said, 'Such small pixels—you're only going to get noisy images!' Yet each subsequent generation has shrunk pixel sizes while increasing image quality."

He also highlighted a significant shift in smartphone camera design: "A major development was the jump from single-camera systems to multi-camera setups, which has expanded our range of focal lengths and provided zoom capabilities."

Overcoming Video Challenges

While Android phones have made significant strides in still photography, video capabilities have traditionally lagged behind competitors like the iPhone. Chugh attributed this partly to the nature of the Android ecosystem. "Android has been the bottleneck; it's very complicated on the backend," he explained. "It has to do with codecs and the bitrate capabilities of Android phones."

However, Vivo claims to have made significant progress in this area with their latest models, particularly the X100 Ultra. While not yet launched in India at the time of the interview, Chugh was confident enough to suggest that it could change perceptions about Android video capabilities.

The Philosophical Question: What is a Photograph?

As the conversation turned to the role of AI and computational photography, a more philosophical question emerged: In the age of AI, what constitutes a photograph? This question, as Schindelbeck pointed out, is not entirely new. "We faced the same challenge 50 years ago during analog times. What is a photo? Does the film make a difference, does the developing on the paper make a difference, and then does the retouching?"

The advent of AI and machine learning has only intensified this debate. Chugh offered an interesting perspective: "If we were to develop a camera that 100 per cent represents your face, 99 out of 100 people would reject that image in a digital camera." He argued that some level of enhancement is not only accepted but expected by users.

The Future of Smartphone Photography

As the conversation drew to a close, it became clear that the future of smartphone photography lies in the delicate balance between technological advancement and user expectations. Vivo and Zeiss are pushing the boundaries of what's possible, but they're also keenly aware of the need to create images that resonate with users. They are gunning for an emotive feel, a vibe that iconic cameras from decades past have had!

The partnership between Vivo and Zeiss represents a fusion of innovation and tradition. Together, they're not just improving image quality; they're redefining what we expect from the cameras we carry in our pockets every day.

As smartphones continue to evolve, the camera remains a key battleground for manufacturers. The competition drives innovation, pushing companies to develop better sensors, more sophisticated optics, and more powerful processing capabilities. But as Vivo and Zeiss demonstrate, it's not just about raw specifications. The magic happens when hardware and software work in perfect harmony, guided by a deep understanding of what users want and need, something that both Chugh and Schindelbeck alluded to.

As Chugh, the camera collector turned smartphone imaging expert, and Schindelbeck, the Zeiss veteran who has witnessed the entire evolution of mobile photography, continue their work, one thing is clear: the boundaries of what's possible in smartphone photography are constantly expanding.

And the next frontier is coming up soon as Vivo is expected to push the boundaries of mobile photography even further with the X200 series which will likely be launched globally by the end of the year. Industry insiders suggest that this phone is anticipated to compete with, and potentially surpass, the rumoured capabilities of upcoming flagship devices like the Google Pixel 9 series and the iPhone 16.