Bloomberg: Bosch Supplies iPhone Sensors

According to Blooomberg German company Bosch has won orders to supply "some" motion sensors for the next iPhone-- a possible blow to IvenSense, the current supplier of the aforementioned components.

iPhone mockupAn unnamed source claims Bosch may supply "as much as half" of iPhone motion sensors, with IvenSense supplying the rest. Bosch already provides Apple with barometric pressure sensors, at least according to gadget teardown sites such as iFixit, and rumour has the Bosch facility in Reutlingen, Germany finds use in the Apple self-driving car program.

Why would Apple want to change motion sensor supplier? This is actually a tactic commonly used the company-- one providing both component price competition and a fallback in case the main supplier can't keep up with demand. Of course, there are some exception. One of these is TSMC, who analysts believe has the monopoly on processors for the iPhone 7 and the 2017 iPhone.

In the meantime IvenSense is looking to complete its $1.3 billion sale to TDK, a deal in part aimed to boost the Japanese company's business with Apple. However Bloomberg suggests TDK knew of the potential loss of the Apple revenue stream, and the IvenSense acquisition is driven by a want for driverless auto, drone and internet of things technologies.

According to the grapevine the next iPhone will feature a 5.8-inch OLED display, virtual home button, wireless charging, 3D facial recognition, iris scanning and maybe even a vertically-aligned rear-facing camera. Also said to be in production are "iPhone 7" models offering 4.7- and 5.5-inch LCD displays and some advances from the flagship model, such as wireless charging.

Go Bosch Said to Win Some iPhone Orders in Blow to IvenSense (Bloomberg)