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Samsung in talks to buy company behind OPPO’s periscope camera tech (Update)
August 23, 2025
Update, August 12, 2025 (2:35AM ET):It looks like Samsung has indeed acquired camera company Corephotonics, according to two outlets with knowledge of the matter.
CalcalistandGlobesreported the purchase, confirming that the Korean brand splashed out $155 million for the innovative camera firm. We’ve contacted Corephotonics to clarify the news and will update the article if/when we receive a response.
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The purchase could potentially spoil the party for OPPO, which has worked with Corephotonics in recent years to demonstrate better smartphone zoom capabilities. The two companies previously showed off a periscope camera setup that offered 5x zoom. The firms even signed a collaboration agreement last year, with the aim of developing OPPO’s camera roadmap.
Clearly, this acquisition could grant Samsung some impressive zoom technology, although it’s far too early to expect the tech in theGalaxy S10and Galaxy Note 10.
Original article, July 27, 2025 (3:38AM ET):Zoom is one of the biggest challenges facing mobile manufacturers, with telephoto secondary cameras often being used instead of bulky lenses. However,Samsungis reportedly in talks to acquire a company with some interesting zoom-related tech.
The Korean brand is in “advanced talks” to acquire Israeli company Corephotonics for between $150 million and $160 million, according to Israeli publicationGlobe.
Corephotonics is no stranger to the smartphone industry, having worked with OPPO to show off aperiscope camera solution. The camera setup, demonstrated at MWC 2017, enables5x lossless zoomwith the aid of a prism.
The Israeli company also signed acollaboration agreementwith OPPO last year. Coincidentally, the Chinese brand has been touting a10x zoom solutionthis year, so we’d assume the Israeli company has contributed some of its know-how to this feature.
A zoom-focused triple camera setup?
Samsung could steal OPPO’s thunder if it chooses to buy the camera firm, acquiring a company with years of zoom-related expertise androughly 150 filed patentsin its arsenal. The Korean manufacturer could potentially obtain the periscope solution for 5x zoom as well. And this technology has been mooted for triple camera setups, according to the camera company’s 2018triple camera white paper.
“Combined with multi-frame technologies, image fusion and multi-scaling, this camera (setup) could provide up to a total of 25x zoom factor,” read an excerpt of the firm’s white paper. By comparison, HUAWEI’shybrid zoomtechnology on theMate 20 ProandP20 Protops out at 5x zoom.
A successful purchase means Samsung could potentially have a massive zoom advantage over the competition, then. But it would also come with some baggage, as the Israeli firm is currently embroiled in a legal battle with Apple. The camera companyclaimsApple used its patented technology in dual-camera iPhones.
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