By Hyunjoo Jin YONGIN South Korea (Reuters) – South Korean smartphone camera makers are tapping the surging yet more technologically demanding market for vehicle cameras to dull the impact of slowing growth in global handset sales. As the technology reaches mid- and lower-end cars, the market for vehicle cameras could grow seven-fold from 2011 to nearly $6.6 billion in 2018, said Techno Systems Research. Also adding to demand will be the spread of camera-laden self-driving vehicles like those of Google Inc. We expect the vehicle camera market to experience explosive growth, Lee Hyo-cheol, a principal research engineer at Korean auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis Co Ltd, told Reuters. Phone camera makers have had to face a steep learning curve, he said.