Smartphone-use lens module maker Largan Precision has warned that order pull-ins from its clients may turn weak in April due to insufficient supplies of sensors and other IC parts.
But the lens module maker, who has been a primary supplier of lens modules for Apple's iPhone devices, may also face increasing competition from China-based rivals, starting in second-quarter 2021 at the earliest, according to industry sources.
Chinese lens module maker Sunny Optical Technology reportedly will begin shipping 7P wide-angle lens modules for Apple's next-generation iPhone devices to be launched in the second half of 2021, indicated the sources.
China's handset ODM Wingtech Group is exerting efforts to enter the iPhone's supply chain by taking up the lens module business from fellow company O-film for CNY2.42 billion (US$363 million) at the end of March.
O-film was forced to leave the iPhone supply chain as it disclosed in mid-March that a certain overseas customer had notified it about intending to suspend the business relationship with it and its subsidiaries, the surces noted. O-film, a camera module supplier for Apple's iPhone 12 series, did not identify the overseas customer.
Wingtech's move is to enrich its product lines to include upstream components and become a primary supplier of camera modules, said the sources, adding that the firm is also likely to tap business opportunities in the 5G, IoT and EV sectors optimized its complete supply chain, said the sources.
Due to the validation process involved, it may take about four months for Wingtech to secure validation from related clients for its newly acquired lens module lines after the completion of the acquisition deal, noted the sources.
Largan and fellow company Genius Electronic Optical (GSEO) will face increasing price competition when Sunny Optical and Wingtech secure the tickets to enter the iPhone's supply chain, commented the sources.
Largan will hold an investors conference online on April 8 to discuss its business prospects.
