Green lights are flashing across Asia’s supply chain as factories and investors gear up for what is expected to be a pair of game-changing new phones from Apple and Samsung Electronics.
Makers of everything from glass to acoustics to pick-and-place tools – industrial tweezers capable of placing the tiniest of parts on motherboards – are joining the frenzy. Hints from Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, have also prompted some expectations of an augmented reality component.
The stage is set for “a robust augmented reality feature set that we believe will be key differentiator for the 10- year anniversary iPhone”, wrote Goldman Sachs in a recent report.