Leica Camera AG and Socionext Europe continue their long-standing collaboration with a focus on next generation System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions

LANGEN / GERMANY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2016 – Leica Camera AG and Socionext Europe (SNEU) have signed a confirmation of good cooperation for the continuation of their long-standing and successful collaboration. The focus of the partnership will be set on the ongoing development of next generation System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions.

Socionext Europe (SNEU), founded in 2015 as the successor to Fujitsu Semiconductor, and Leica Camera AG have been partners in this venture since 2008. SNEUʼs expertise in semiconductor development, and particularly in the field of SoC image processors for digital cameras, led to the development of the successful Leica MAESTRO II image processor, installed for example in the Leica S, that is responsible for the excellent image quality, fast processing speed and low power consumption of the professional medium format digital camera.

Markus Limberger, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Leica Camera: ʻLeica has always stood for high-quality products with innovative technologies. In SNEU, we have a strong and reliable partner who can offer us optimum in-camera image processing solutions. The image processors of the Socionext Milbeaut series, on which the development of the Leica MAESTRO II is based, deliver precisely the exceptional performance that our customers expect and are familiar with from Leica products.ʼ

Mitsugu Naito, Corporate Senior Vice President, Head of Business Group3 at Socionext Inc.
comments: ʻSNEU will fully support Leicaʼs requirements while developing the next generation SoC Maestro III and respective firmware. Our team of dedicated hardware and software engineers will continue merging the strengths of SNEUʼs image-processing technologies with Leicaʼs high- definition imaging technologies and offer an industry-leading image processing solution.ʼ