The recent earthquakes which struck Japan may have affected the iPhone 7 supply chain — particularly related to the next-gen handset’s camera module.
On Saturday, a powerful earthquake hit Japan’s manufacturing Kumamoto prefecture, which is known as the country’s “Silicon Island.”
Most relevant to Apple is the fact that Sony’s main production base for image sensors is located in the area. Sony is the only supplier of CMOS sensors — one of the two types of sensor units used in digital cameras — for the iPhone. Both of Sony’s plants in the region were offline as of yesterday.
“Sony plays an important role for both CMOS sensor and camera module for the upcoming iPhone 7,” writes Morgan Stanley analyst Jasmine Lu. “By far, yield rate has been low for modules. Risks are rising for a possible delay in launch if Sony doesn’t resume normal operations in the near term.”
Apple has tried to de-risk its supply chain lately by increasing its number of suppliers for components. In the case of the CMOS sensor, however, Sony is the only provider.
With that said, since the company has yet to reveal which — if any — of its production equipment is damaged, Morgan Stanley is being forward in suggesting the iPhone 7 risks being delayed.
This isn’t the first time earthquakes have affected iPhone 7 production. Back in February, A10 chipmaker TSMC had one of its factories in southern Taiwan damaged after a quake.
Via: Barrons
