Apple Seeks LG’s Help in Dual-Lens Camera Production for iPhone 7

In a recent note to investors, investment bank Nomura Securities’ Chris Chang has claimed that Sony is running behind schedule in terms of supplying Apple with dual-lens camera modules for its next generation ‘iPhone 7 Plus’ models, and that the Cupertino giant is now turning to LG as its primary supplier of dual-lens camera modules for the 5.5-inch iPhone, MacRumors is reporting.

We think Sony may not be able to deliver its full share of dual cameras to Apple due to: (1) lower-than-expected yield, and (2) damage to its production facility from the April earthquake in Kumamoto.

Both investment bank Nomura Securities and research firm Citi Research believe all 5.5-inch iPhones will be equipped with dual-lens camera modules, rather than just one model.

According to Nomura Securities, Apple will add the optical image stabilization (OIS) feature on both the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone models this year, even though the feature has so far been limited to the larger iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6s Plus devices.

More recently, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also claimed that Apple will release a single iPhone 7 Plus model that will ship with a dual-lens camera and 3GB of RAM to compensate for increased image processing demands. Meanwhile, the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 will retain a single-lens camera.

Earlier this year, Apple also won a patent for dual-camera system consisting of one standard wide-angle lens and a second telephoto lens capable of capturing zoomed-in video and photos.