Adam Lin, Largan's chief executive in a press conference after the company's annual general meeting clearly stated that "We will have lenses for 3-D sensing module used in smartphone ready to ship in the second half this year." The Nikkei report added that the 3-D sensors enable facial and iris recognition.
Lin did not specify that the lenses for 3-D sensing modules were ordered by Apple. But Jeff Pu, an analyst at Yuanta Investment Consulting, said that the U.S. company would be the only one in the world that would release smartphones with the advanced feature this year.
Pu estimated that Largan would supply 90% of rear camera lenses for iPhones, around 50% of 3-D sensing lenses, and up to 30% of the front camera lenses. Taiwanese rival Genius Electronics Optical and Japan's Kantatsu, controlled by Hon Hai Precision Industry, compete for the rest of the iPhone orders.
Some market watchers had earlier said that Apple might decide not to adopt 3-D sensing features this year due to quality issues.
Earlier today Barron's posted a report titled "Apple: Production Estimates Going Higher for iPhone, Says Credit Suisse."