14 DAY TRIAL // KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes several Android phone manufacturers will incorporate 3D sensing technology on their smartphones, and Huawei will be the first to do it in 2019.
In a note to investors, Kuo says Huawei is going to use a structured light solution similar to the one that Apple implemented on the iPhone X, but in approximately six months, the company could migrate to time-of-flight sensors.
The design of TOF sensors is less complex and because they’re smaller, phone manufacturers could save space inside a phone. Furthermore, the costs of such sensors is said to be substantially lower, and this is why Kuo believes more Android makes would launch phones with 3D sensing capabilities using this approach.
"With advantages in BOM, we see ToF becoming the Android camp's mainstream facial recognition solution, as long as production yield and recognition quality don't become major issues," Kuo is quoted as saying.
Cheaper iPhone?
A recent report indicated that Apple has a two-year lead in 3D sensing technology because the costs of building such modules is still higher, which means that the majority of Android OEMs can’t afford to offer such features without increasing the price of their phones.
At the same time, Apple is believed to have accounted for a big part of the production capacity, especially as the company is expected to launch three different iPhone models this year, all featuring facial recognition.
Kuo says that structured light systems, which is the one that Apple also uses on the iPhone X, is just a transitional solution, and sooner or later everyone would migrate to TOF sensors because of the costs. This is an approach that Apple itself was said to be exploring, as the company was seeking ways to reduce the cost of the iPhone.
The next generation of iPhone models is expected to launch in the fall with a cheaper iPhone included, but while the same 3D sensing tech would be used, it’s believed cost cutting happened in other areas, such as 3D Touch and body materials.