[THE INVESTOR] Canon, Sony and Nikon may spring to mind when people think of consumer digital camera brands, while Arri and Panavision would be the most sought-after motion picture cameras for filmmakers.

In the world of high tech industries such as health care, displays and semiconductors, a highly sophisticated camera is needed to spot the tiniest flaws in assembly lines or spot health irregularities inside human bodies.

This is where Vieworks comes in to lend a hand through its digital imaging solutions for X-ray systems and information technology manufacturers.


 

The company, with a market cap of over 500 billion won ($436 million), develops and produces high-performance industrial cameras that offer ultrahigh resolution and can inspect and spot defaults typically unnoticeable to the human eye. Its cameras are crucial for liquid-crystal display and chip manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics for before products are produced and shipped to end consumers.

Its other key area is in flat-panel digital radiography, which is used in X-ray imaging. This business has been growing an average of 26 percent a year in terms of sales from 2012-2015, while its annual operating profit increased 35 percent on average.

But analysts say in order for its shares to be valued higher in the long term, the company needs a fresh growth momentum.

“For the company to be rerated and further gain attention from the market, it will need to secure new growth,” said Lee Min-young, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities.

Vieworks posted consolidated sales of 23.9 billion won in the first quarter of this year, up about 32 percent from 18.1 billion won a year ago, according to its financial statements. Its operating profit increased 107 percent to 4.8 billion won in the same period. The company achieved earnings above the market consensus of 23.7 billion won in sales and 4.6 billion in operating profit, analysts said.

The company introduced a new camera -- with time-delayed integration -- late last year. This new product is expected to boost its overall sales of industrial cameras to 23.9 billion won this year, up 20 percent from last year, according to Korea Investment & Securities.

Vieworks began selling its TDI cameras in the second quarter of this year. The industrial camera is used for inspecting productions of LCDs and organic light-emitting diode displays. Currently, Canada-based Teledyne Dalsa has a competitive edge in this market, as their value exceeds 230 billion won globally. Locally, the TDI camera market is worth about 50 billion won, according to Shinhan Investment.

“Vieworks’ TDI has an edge in imaging processing, higher resolution and optic sensitivity,” said Lee Ji-yong, an analyst at Shinhan Investment, noting the company is expected to post TDI camera sales of 7 billion won this year and 11.2 billion won next year.

The global industrial camera market is valued around 8 trillion won. Asia -- particularly South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, where they lead in the production of chips and displays -- is the biggest market for industrial cameras, accounting for over 40 percent of the total, according to Vieworks.

By Park Hyong-ki (hkp@heraldcorp.com)

This is the 14th in a series of articles analyzing major companies by market capitalization traded on the tech-heavy KOSDAQ market. -- Ed.