The new three iPhone models are rumored to have facial recognition and the proportion of front and rear VCSELs will be increased

Apple's iPhone design next year has attracted much attention. Analysts predict that the proportion of VCSEL components on the front and back of the new high-end iPhone next year will increase. All three new iPhone models next year will have Face ID on the front, and two of them will have ToF on the rear.

Tianfeng International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo issued a report predicting that as early as this year, China's Huawei's high-end mobile phones will be equipped with vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) components on the front and back. By 2020, Apple and Huawei's high-end mobile phones will be equipped with VCSEL components on the front and back.

The report predicts that by next year, shipments of mobile phones equipped with front and rear VCSELs will grow significantly by 450% to 500% year-on-year in 2020, and shipments will reach 75 million to 80 million units.

Among them, in the Apple iPhone segment, Kuo Ming-Chi predicts that all three new iPhones in the second half of next year will be equipped with front-mounted facial recognition Face ID, and two new models will be equipped with rear-mounted time-of-flight (ToF) technology. The report predicts that the shipment volume of iPhones equipped with front and rear VCSEL components will be about 45 million next year.

As for Huawei, the report expects Huawei to ship approximately 12 million and 27 million mobile phones equipped with front and rear ToF this year and next year, respectively.

According to Kuo's analysis, rear-mounted ToF is mainly used to improve photo quality and provide augmented reality (AR) applications, and its penetration rate in the high-end market is expected to gradually grow.

As 5G and ToF are conducive to the promotion of AR technology, the report predicts that Apple and Huawei will be the brands that most actively adopt 5G and rear-mounted ToF technology in 2020.

From the perspective of the component supply chain, the report predicts that Crystal Optech, which manufactures filters, Win Semiconductors, which produces VCSELs, Lumentum, which designs VCSELs, and Viavi, which provides diffusers, are expected to benefit.