The iPhone 12 is on its way to becoming the closest thing to a Samsung device that Apple ever shipped after new analyst insight suggested the two companies are likely to reach a deal over yet another key supply contract. Quite a historic one, at that, seeing how its direct result should be the first-ever iPhone generation whose mobile photography setup incorporates Samsung lenses.
Apple will reportedly soon start testing 6P lenses from Samsung which it may not only use for the iPhone 12 series, but could even incorporate into its existing products, retrofitting assembly lines to account for new Samsung lenses.
Samsung deal an all-around win for Apple
Industry watchers from South Korea claim Samsung will start delivering its lenses to Apple by the end of the year. This newest addition to Apple's ever-expanding network of supply chains is forecast to start modestly as Cupertino still has to make sure that Samsung-made glass is viable for its specific requirements; not so much in terms of quality, but immediate scalability.
The iPhone maker, for its part, is said to be viewing the prospect of Samsung lenses as an all-around win which diversifies its supply chain, thus improving its sustainability, and simultaneously reduces the bottom line by introducing a fourth entity to what has been a three-player game for a while now. Apple's existing lens suppliers are GSEO, Kantas, and Largan Precision. Beyond near-term cost-effectiveness, Apple is also banking on extra rivalry accelerating technological advancements in the segment, analysts believe.
As for the actual parts Apple is interested in, it sees the primary appeal of Samsung Electro-Mechanics in telephoto solutions. Not least of all because its long-term camera partner, LG Innotek, has been dragging it through a closely related IP dispute for several years now. Samsung, on the other hand, has plenty of unique telephoto technologies to license, which is gradually turning into a pressing issue for Apple given how much stagnation already stemmed from its disagreements with LG. Particularly after the company's 2019 acquisition of Corephotonics.
