Both Fujifilm X30 and Canon SD980 IS have 12.0 MP resolution sensors but Fujifilm X30's sensor is 2/3-inch (8.8 x 6.6 mm ) and Canon SD980 IS's sensor is 1/2.3-inch (6.17 x 4.55 mm ).
Since Fujifilm X30's has a larger sensor area with the same resolution, this means that it also has a larger pixel area hence better light collecting capacity for a given aperture compared to Canon SD980 IS.
Below you can see the X30 and SD980 IS sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Fujifilm X30 has a 2.1x Larger sensor area than Canon SD980 IS. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.