Apple supplier Genius is anticipated to be the primary beneficiary of the company’s reported camera upgrades on its upcoming smartphones, according to an analyst.
Apple will equip the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max — the company’s purported Pro models expected to release later this year — with an upgraded camera setup, according to TF Securities International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who claims that Apple will upgrade the ultra-wide angle camera on this year’s Pro models, while the smaller iPhone 16 Pro will be equipped with the tetraprism telephoto camera setup found on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The company is also tipped to equip the iPhone 17 series with an upgraded selfie camera.
In a Medium post, Kuo states that Apple will upgrade the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max from a 12-megapixel sensor to a 48-megapixel sensor — the sensor is expected to output 12-megapixel images that are pixel binned, according to Kuo, but the hardware upgrade will lead to improved image quality compared to the iPhone 15 Pro models.
The analyst says that Taiwan-based Genius Electronic Optical will be a major supplier of the ultra-wide angle lens on the iPhone 16 Pro models, and the firm is also on track to produce the tetraprism telephoto lens for the smaller iPhone 16 Pro model, bringing its optical zoom performance on par with the larger Pro model.
In the previous year, Apple introduced an upgraded telephoto camera with up to 5x optical zoom on the iPhone 15 Pro. Leaks suggest that the iPhone 16 Pro will feature similar camera hardware with the same functionality. Additionally, the iPhone 16 Pro is expected to have a larger 6.27-inch display, potentially driving a 5 to 10 percent increase in user upgrades upon its release, according to Kuo.
Furthermore, Kuo predicts that Apple will enhance the iPhone 17 series with a new selfie camera, upgrading it from a 12-megapixel sensor with a 5P lens to a 24-megapixel camera with a 6P lens, significantly improving image quality. As the primary supplier for the front cameras on the iPhone, Genius is expected to experience a substantial increase in revenue, as the price of a 6P lens is 100 percent to 120 percent higher than that of 5P lenses.