LG InnoTek is raising its expenditure to ramp up the production of camera modules for Apple. The optical unit of the South Korean tech giant made the announcement earlier this week, raising investment to 547.8 billion won (roughly 496 million US Dollars) to secure and strengthen its production capacity.
According to TheElec report, the company announced that it will be raising its spending for its optical solutions arm near the start of every year. Back in 2019, its business spending was 282.1 billion won (roughly 255 million US Dollars), which was then raised to 479.8 billion won (roughly 434 million US Dollars) last year. This marks a 14 percent rise of expenditure over 2020. As per the report, the move from the company is likely due to the recent changes in the Cupertino based giant’s camera module supply chain.
For those unaware, Apple currently has two camera module suppliers, down from three. Chinese supplier O’Film was removed from its supply chain due to allegations of human rights violations against Uighur people. In other words, the O’Film orders have now been taken over by InnoTek and Sharp. At the moment, LG InnoTek primarily supplies camera modules for the higher end iPhone models. But now, the company will also be responsible for the cameras in the lower end models as well.
The South Korean supplier held a 50 percent market share in Apple’s camera module supplyu chain, which is now expected further rise now. Meanwhile, Sharp’s market share in the same category is expected to rise to 40 percent, up from mid 30 percent. Furthermore, three out of the four upcoming 2021 iPhone will feature the new sensor technology.
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