Germany's Bosch wins orders to supply motion sensors for Apple's 'iPhone 8'

German supplier Bosch will provide some of the motion sensors for "the next iPhone," diverting some orders away from Apple's once exclusive supplier, InvenSense, according to a report.

Bosch could supply up to half of Apple's needed components, Bloomberg said on Friday, citing an anonymous source. Bosch already supplies barometric sensors for current iPhones, but in the iPhone 6s and 7 at least, motion sensors are the exclusive domain of InvenSense.

Apple will often bring multiple suppliers onboard for a single part in order to force price competition, as well as offer a fallback in case one company encounters bottlenecks or otherwise can't keep up with demand. There are some exceptions, most notably TSMC, which is believed to have a monopoly on A10 processors for the iPhone 7, and be headed in the same direction for this year's iPhones.

The "iPhone 8" is commonly expected to feature a 5.8-inch OLED screen, a virtual home button, wireless charging, and 3D facial recognition and/or iris scanning. It may also switch to a vertically-aligned rear camera.

It's unclear if Bosch will be involved with two rumored "iPhone 7s" models, which should sport 4.7- and 5.5-inch LCDs, but share some advances of the "iPhone 8" like wireless charging.

In its 2017 Supplier Responsibility Report Apple listed Bosch as a supplier, but specifically a facility in Reutlingen, Germany dedicated to automotive electronics — possibly hinting at involvement in Apple's self-driving car program.

13 Comments

SpamSandwich 20 Years · 32917 comments

About 8 years ago

Apropos of nothing, I personally dislike the use of the word "win" or "awarded" when it's used in headlines (especially when the occasional patent-related story pops up here).

[Deleted User] 12 Years · 0 comments

SpamSandwich said:

Apropos of nothing, I personally dislike the use of the word "win" or "awarded" when it's used in headlines (especially when the occasional patent-related story pops up here).

Win is quite apt imho, in that they bid for the work against other manufacturers and won the contract.

maciekskontakt 16 Years · 1168 comments

adm1 said:

SpamSandwich said:

Apropos of nothing, I personally dislike the use of the word "win" or "awarded" when it's used in headlines (especially when the occasional patent-related story pops up here).

Win is quite apt imho, in that they bid for the work against other manufacturers and won the contract.

Actually you are right. I only have problem when people say "won test", won"poractice" like in Formula 1 racing. This is foolish as winning is not there except best result. Winning starts only where and when there is designated competition/contest by rules with rewards. Outside of that is just interesting result.

seanismorris 9 Years · 1624 comments

Well....Bosch makes good windshield wipers and other auto (supplies).

And, no one has made a connection yet to Apple Car? I could be an interesting relationship/collaboration.

suddenly newton 15 Years · 13819 comments

SpamSandwich said:

Apropos of nothing, I personally dislike the use of the word "win" or "awarded" when it's used in headlines (especially when the occasional patent-related story pops up here).

But Bosch was awarded a rose in every ceremony, until it reached the final round when Apple popped the question: "I want you inside my iPhone, will you be mine?"