Apple to Place Motion Sensor Orders from Bosch for iPhone 8 and Beyond

Germany’s Bosch has reportedly won more orders from Apple, supplying motion sensors for the next iPhone and beyond, reports Bloomberg.

Robert Bosch GmbH has won orders from Apple Inc. to supply the next iPhone with some of its motion sensors, according to a person familiar with the deal, a potential blow to InvenSense Inc., currently the main supplier of those smartphone components.

The deal means current supplier InvenSense, will see some of its marketshare eroded. Apple typically finds alternative suppliers for parts for its products, to diversity its supply chain, plus as a negotiation tactic for getting the best possible price on components.

Sources say Bosch may provide up to half of these motion sensors for the next iPhone, with the rest coming from InvenSense. Barometric pressure sensors are already being supplied by Bosch for iPhone, according to teardowns. The company has been a top manufacture of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors and actuators, since 2013.

InvenSense hinted back in August it was set to lose some of its market share, with Chief Financial Officer Mark Dentinger saying “We’re still the largest player, but we are splitting some share now with our primary competitor,” adding “Historically, it’s unlikely that most of our customers will have just one supplier over a long, long period of time.”

Japan’s TDK is pursuing its $1.3 billion acquisition of InvenSense, in what is seen as a play to partly become a closer partner with Apple. “We aim to become a strong player in the sensor business with InvenSense as our perfect partner,” TDK CEO Shigenao Ishiguro said back in December.

Life as an Apple supplier is not easy. As they used to say in ’90s gangsta rap feuds, if you live by the gun you die by the gun. Just ask UK supplier Imagination, which saw their shares plunge nearly 70%, after Apple announced it would no longer use their GPUs, but rather make their own. Imagination launched a dispute resolution this week against Apple, in efforts to fight the decision.