iPhone camera supplier Sony says that even running its production lines 24 hours a day hasn’t been enough to keep up with demand…
Sony makes sensors for a number of smartphone and camera brands, and told Bloomberg that for the second year running, it will keep its factories operating throughout the holidays in order to win back some ground.
The trend toward ever more cameras on the back of smartphones has been the main driver for increased demand, the base model iPhone 11 this year adopting two cameras, while the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max have three.
‘Judging by the way things are going, even after all that investment in expanding capacity, it might still not be enough,’ Shimizu said in an interview at the Tokyo headquarters. ‘We are having to apologize to customers because we just can’t make enough.’
Apple is expected to adopt Sony’s latest camera tech in next year’s iPhones: Time of Flight (TOF) cameras.
‘The camera has become the biggest differentiator for smartphone brands and everyone wants their social media pictures and videos to look nice,’ said Masahiro Wakasugi, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. ‘Sony is riding that wave of demand very well.’
Semiconductors are now Sony’s most profitable business after the PlayStation.
This was first suggested in July, and echoed by reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo later the same month.
Apple’s iPhone camera supplier believes that TOF cameras will add to 5G as another key reason to buy next year’s flagship iPhones.
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