No longer just Sony: Apple allegedly interested in new image sensors
According to an analyst report, Apple is planning to activate another supplier for image sensors in the longer term. It comes from South Korea.
Sony-Logo.
(Image: Shutterstock.com/monticello)
Anyone who thinks of the much-praised cameras in the iPhone must also think of Sony: the Japanese company has been supplying Apple with so-called CMOS image sensors (CIS), i.e. the central image sensors, for years. Apple doesn't actually like it when a supplier has a monopoly - it makes the iPhone manufacturer too dependent, in its own opinion. According to a new report, the management has therefore now decided to take another CIS supplier on board. It is at least as famous as Sony.
Sony no longer solo?
As the usually well-informed analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from the Taiwanese investment firm TF International Securities wrote on X on Wednesday, this is the corresponding division of the South Korean group Samsung. The latter will supply at least one image sensor for the iPhone "possibly as early as 2026". According to Kuo, this is the ultra-wide-angle sensor. Samsung is to supply a "1/2.6-inch module with 48 megapixels". At the moment, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max still have a 12-megapixel model.
The plan is to break Sony's long-standing monopoly as a CIS supplier. Samsung has also set up its own team to look after Apple alone. Kuo did not initially provide any further details on which iPhone model is to receive the Samsung CIS. On Wednesday, he also provided details on the new iPhone 17 "Slim" or "Ultra", which is due to be released in 2025. However, like other iPhone 17 models, this is likely to be equipped with Sony CIS, with the iPhone 18 due in 2026.
Apple has also been working with Samsung for a long time
Samsung has been a supplier for the iPhone for a very long time. Initially, the South Koreans are even said to have supplied SoCs for Apple smartphones, and now parts of the OLEDs come from the company (alongside LG Display). With its Android phones, Samsung is therefore both a direct competitor of Apple and a long-standing partner with its component departments.
This was particularly extreme in the 2010s, when the companies sued each other for patent infringement. Apple's demands on components are high, and the company often has custom-made products manufactured.
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