Apple may be forced to ditch its chosen dual camera module supplier Sony in favor of LG Innotek, according to a new report claiming that Sony has fallen behind schedule.
Nomura analyst Chris Chang says that he thinks Sony won’t be able to deliver its full share of dual camera lenses for the iPhone 7 due to lower-than-expected yield and damage to its production facility from the April earthquake in Kumamoto. “As a result, we think LGI will gain majority share of the initial dual camera orders from Apple,” Chang writes.
While Sony, of course, hasn’t publicly acknowledged that it is building dual camera modules for the upcoming next-gen iPhone 7, Sony CFO Kenichiro Yoshida revealed during the company’s Q3 FY15 earnings call that its dual-lens camera platform will be featured in a range of products from “major smartphone players” over the next year — heavily hinting at Apple.
Apple is expected to use dual-lens technology from LinX, an Israeli camera company it acquired last year. While initially it was rumored that these dual camera lenses would be available only on special models of the iPhone 7 Plus (an iPhone 7 Plus Pro or similar), recently it has been suggested that Apple now plans to deliver the upgrade as standard on all 7 Plus models as demand for greater smartphone cameras increases.
Via: Barrons
