Largan hints at ramping 8-megapixel camera for next iPhone
updated 08:45 am EDT, Fri June 10, 2011
Largan hints 8MP camera plans for iPhone
Largan Precision in a shareholder meeting Thursday gave more official hints that it was supplying eight-megapixel iPhone cameras. CEO Lin En-ping said that camera lens orders had been increasing to a number of Largan's clients, including Apple, HTC, Nokia, and RIM. Most were upgrading from five to eight megapixels, so those later orders were growing faster, he said.
Supporting talk of iPhone production not starting in earnest until July, he still saw eight-megapixel cameras representing just 10 percent of orders in the spring where five-megapixel cameras were still 60 percent.
The comments don't necessarily equate to a direct confirmation but would line up with mounting plans for an upgraded camera on the next iPhone. OmniVision is making most sensors, according to reports, and would need Largan's help to make completed camera modules. Apple is facing stiff competition at the upper end of the market in which it operates as eight-megapixel cameras are now common in the high-end with a few having 12-megapixel sensors.
