According to a Korean newspaper, the Korea Economic Daily (via The Investor)), Apple has assigned LG Innotek the task to build recognition camera module for the iPhone 8. According to the report, the Korean company has invested 269.7 billion won, or about $238.50 million, in a new facility that will only be handling these new orders from Apple.
According to the report, Apple’s facial recognition module with 3D sensing technology is going to be very small in size and it will be capable of advanced 3D facial recognition. That’s why the company needed an all-new plant for the production of these camera modules. The report suggests that Apple’s facial recognition solution built inside the front-facing camera will provide better accuracy than Samsung’s Galaxy S8 which uses the 2D image for facial recognition.
LG group is the main company behind LG Innotek. It is the same company that provides dual-lens camera setup for the iPhone 7 Plus.
Apple and LG Innotek, the market leader in the smartphone camera module market, teamed up last year to develop the world’s first 3D facial recognition camera system that can be used for a variety of applications from biometric authentication to games.
The report suggests that the LG Innotek has managed to secure a deal estimated at around 200 billion won, or about $177 million.
Ming-chi Kuo of the KGI securities was the first analyst to predict that Apple’s 10th-anniversary iPhone will feature a 3D sensing facial recognition technology. The technology will also be capable of scanning objects in 3D, map the surroundings in 3D, make use of augmented reality, and more, according to the analyst.
Back in March, Barron’s said that Apple had approached a company called Himax Technologies to build 3D sensors for the OLED iPhone. Barclays believes that the iPhone 8 will have the 3D sensing technology and the augmented reality in both of its front and rear cameras.