The mobile phone industry may be in a midst of a slump, but a unit of Sharp Corp. is forecasting growth thanks to the race by smartphone makers to wow customers with high-quality photos.
Kantatsu Co., a maker of camera lenses for Apple Inc. and Huawei Technologies Co., expects sales will rise 15 percent to 150 million units in the year ending March 2019, Chief Executive Officer Keiju Akutsu said in an interview. Kantatsu also plans to list shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange next fiscal year, Akutsu said, declining to give further details.
The mobile phone industry has hit a slowdown as global smartphone shipments fell 8.5 percent in the fourth quarter, according to researcher IDC. As markets from the U.S. to China grow more saturated and replacement cycles lengthen, manufacturers are looking to lure buyers with dual-camera models that offer wide-angle shots and an effect that blurs the background to give pictures a glossy, professional look. That means multiple lenses packed more densely in the same slim form factor, according to Simon Chan, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst.
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