iPhone 8 will be the first smartphone in which the Apple company could have integrated Bosch sensors for smartphones, thus breaking the tradition of using InvenSense sensors. According to some information that appeared recently, those from Apple would have decided to give up InvenSense for part of the iPhone usage sensors, Bosch being contracted to supply some components.
At the moment, those from InvenSense make the movement sensors of the iPhone and iPad, but the iPhone 8 could benefit from Bosch technologies. More than half of InvenSense's revenue comes from sales to Apple, so the change would be a radical blow for the Asians, but those from Apple care too little about it.
Practically, the gyroscope and accelerometer used in iPhone 8 are to a large extent from Bosch, Apple seems to have ordered half of these components from the Germans. Those from Bosch already produce the barometer in the iPhone, so for the iPhone 8 those from Apple would extend their collaboration for motion sensors as well.
InvenSense has been aware since 2014 that the partnership with Apple is not long-term and although it will supply components for the iPhone 8, it is aware that it will not be alone. At the moment, the company's managers are negotiating a sale to TDK, so for the iPhone 8 we might have TDK and Bosch motion sensors.
"Robert Bosch GmbH has won orders from Apple Inc. to supply the next iPhone with some of its motion sensors, according to a person familiar with the deal, a potential blow to InvenSense Inc., currently the main supplier of those smartphone components. Apple accounts for about 60 percent of InvenSense revenue, according to Bloomberg supply chain analysis.”
