Mike Wuerthele
Reports from the supply chain suggest that Sony is giving priority to CMOS image sensor production to Apple, forcing other vendors to source smartphone camera components elsewhere.
As a result of Apple's demand for the iPhone 7, and future iPhone models, supply from Sony to second-tier vendors is heavily constrained, according to a report from DigiTimes. Sources claim that Sony is focusing its output on Apple, Huawei, and Oppo for the vast majority of its supply.
Apple is Sony's largest customer for CMOS image sensors. Sony focuses on mid-range and high-end smartphones, and is one of the only suppliers for the quality of sensors that Apple needs.
Because of Apple's peak and dips in demand for sensors depending on sales and production needs, Sony profits are periodically impacted by Apple. While not naming Apple directly, Sony Chief Financial Officer Kenichiro Yoshida said in January 2016 that "certain customers" ordered fewer CMOS image sensors in the previous quarter, forcing a 13 percent drop in quarterly sales, contributing to a quarterly loss.
Sony also has a new CMOS sensor package in production. The new technology will have an effective resolution of 21.2 megapixels, and will be able to capture still images at 19.3 megapixels at 30fps, 4K video at 60fps, and Full HD at 240fps in a slightly thinner package than its 12MP sensor it uses in the iPhone 7.
Samsung generates its own CMOS image sensor supply and has little in the way of sales to other vendors.
DigiTimes does generally provide accurate information from within Apple's supply chain — which is precisely what Thursday's report is. However, the publication has an unreliable track record in predicting Apple's future product plans. often predicting both timing and features incorrectly for upcoming products.
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19 Comments
And what else should they do? "So sorry, mr. Apple, we gave those 70m cameras to... oh wait, there is nobody else that uses that high quality sensors to that scale" It could also go like this: "Sorry, Mr. Apple, we used our capacity to prioritise some cheap iCopies, would you mine coming back next quarter?" Right after that stocks plummet and people get fired for being morons. Same as the nintendo sorry, you produce for your biggest client.
As a supplier to Apple I wonder if Sony will pull a Samsung and starting selling smart phones to compete with Apple. Oh, wait, they do... 13 models.
It makes a lot of business sense to favor your largest client. That way they'll continue to do business with you in the future. I'm sure any company would rather favor a client with ten times the business of some smaller client. It might not be fair but that's how business goes. I'm waiting to see some negative headline saying, "Apple causes other companies to unfairly suffer by submitting huge component orders." It's like when Apple was grabbing all the trees in the Cupertino area for Apple Park and local people were complaining how selfish Apple is. Beats me. First come, first serve. Apple might have put in those orders well in advance. I don't know for sure, but it's highly likely those tree supplying businesses are going to cater to Apple needing hundreds of trees over some person only needing a couple of trees.
I'm not quite sure why articles like this even exist. Apple's iPhone production has been getting this sort of preferential treatment for years. One thing is for certain and that's vendors know they'll be getting paid on time if Apple has any credit history at all.
Sony do make some very good sensors. The ones they make for use in their and other companies DSLR's are very good.
They make the sensors for the nikon D800/D810 range. 36Mp. They are apparently also making the 45/46Mp sensors for the forthcoming D820/D850.
The ones they make for Nikon as as I understand it, like the ones that Apple uses, made to the specs of the client rather than being an off the shelf item.
The iPhone is among the best in overall camera quality and capability, but Apple really ought to push hard to be unambiguously the best (well, in smartphones anyway -- they can't change the laws of physics).
Smartphone camera quality is driven by the interaction between the optics, the sensor, the ISP, and the software. Apple controls the whole widget in a way that nobody else does. They have the potential to be the best by far more than just a whisker. Time to step up their game and put the competition down for good!