Apple is the main customer of several parts manufacturers who live and die by the iPhone supply business. In recent weeks, two distinct suppliers have had to deal with the news that Apple will soon ditch their business, as the company is moving development of critical iPhone parts in-house. Imagination confirmed that Apple is working on its own GPU for the iPhone a few days ago, and an analyst said earlier this week that Apple is developing its own battery management chip, and dumping Dialog in the process. A new report says there’s one other company at risk of losing Apple’s business, as the iPhone maker continues to invest in home-grown tech for the iPhone.
A research note from Credit Suisse points to Synaptics as the next company whose business might be impacted by Apple’s decision to produce its own technology for the iPhone.
Synaptics makes interface technologies, driver displays, and biometric tech, Business Insider explains. Credit Suisse analysts that Apple’s next movies would threaten Synaptics’ iPhone-related business.
It wouldn’t be the first time Apple ditches Synaptics. The company was a supplier during the iPod’s glory days. More recently, the company acquired Renesas SP Drivers for $475 million, obtaining Apple’s business once again, as Renesas SP Drivers was already an Apple supplier.
If the name sounds familiar, that’s because recent reports focused on one crucial technology Synaptics is developing for Samsung: fingerprint sensors embedded in displays. The Galaxy S8 was supposed to receive such a feature, but it wasn’t done in time for the phone’s launch. The Galaxy Note 8 might get it, recent reports noted. Apple is already developing its own Touch ID technology for the iPhone 8’s screen, one that doesn’t rely on Synaptics’ existing solutions.
So far, Imagination is the only Apple supplier to have confirmed that it’ll lose Apple’s business at some point in the next two years. Dialog might have a similar fate by 2019, but the company has not made any announcements.
