In a bid to save costs, tech giant Apple is reportedly changing the way it produces camera modules for its iPhone, as a new report states that it is now opting to individually produce each of the camera lenses separately, rather than procure them together and have them pre-assembled.
According to a report from The Elec, up to last year, Apple’s iPhone camera lenses were produced by its suppliers LG InnoTek, Sharp and O’Film. The lenses were “pre-assembled”. Now, Apple is consolidating the production of its camera modules to its largest supplier, Foxconn, to save costs.
Foxconn, in preparation for its new camera assembly responsibility, has received new inspection equipment from the South Korean firm Hyvision System, MacRumors reported citing the report.
The new system will check whether the wide, Ultra Wide and Telephoto cameras’ lenses, including their optical axis and image sensors, are correctly aligned on higher-end ?iPhone models. An incorrect alignment could result in drastically reduced image quality.
The new changes are being done to “save costs,” but it remains unclear if those savings would be presented to customers, the report said.
It’s also unclear whether the new production methodology and Foxconn’s role in camera assembly will be in practice for the upcoming iPhone 13. Given that the new iPhones are already in production, that’s unlikely to be the case, it added.
