Sony is always on the cutting edge of mobile camera technology, and a recent report in Nikkei Japan indicates that the company believes its breakthroughs will see smartphones match and even overtake the capabilities of DSLR and mirrorless cameras as soon as 2024.

At a recent business briefing, President and CEO of Sony Semiconductor Solutions (SSS), Terushi Shimizu, noted that “still images [from smartphones] will exceed the image quality of single-lens reflex cameras within the next few years.” A slide from the same briefing points to 2024 as the timeline where Sony sees that smartphone “still images are expected to exceed ILC [interchangeable lens camera] image quality.”