Samsung is reportedly close to completing a deal to buy an Israeli optics company accusing Apple of stealing its patented dual-camera technology.
CorePhotonics most recently developed a periscope camera module with 5x telephoto for the Chinese smartphone maker Oppo.
Samsung will reportedly pay $150 million to purchase the company, according to smartphone news website GSM Arena, which based its story on “sources familiar with the matter.”
CorePhotonics has two lawsuits against Apple, saying the iPhone maker stole technology for the iPhone 7 Plus, Apple’s first dual-camera smartphone, the iPhone 8 Plus, and the iPhone X.
The company’s CEO, David Mendelovic, claims he had been meeting with Apple engineers in 2012 to show off a prototype for a telephoto camera. Mendelovic, according to the lawsuit, loaned a prototype to Apple in 2014. CorePhotonics met with Apple two years later in hopes for establishing a partnership.
Apple never licensed CorePhotonics technology and a few months after Medelovic’s last meeting with Apple, the iPhone 7 Plus debuted with a dual-camera the company claims infringes on its patents. Apple holds its own patents for dual-camera smartphones.
Telephoto lenses on smartphone cameras are relatively new and, if perfected, could drive another nail in the coffin of conventional camera sales.
CorePhotonics is rumored to have created Oppo’s new 10X zoom camera.
Sources: GSM Arena and DP Review
