LG Innotek key beneficiary of iPhone 7: analyst

[THE INVESTOR] LG Innotek, the parts-making unit of LG Group, and smartphone case maker Spigen Korea are expected to benefit from Apple’s new iPhone 7 that was unveiled on Sept. 7 in San Francisco.

“New iPhones have always suffered supply constraints for newly adopted parts in the early days of launch but for the latest iPhone 7 the overall parts supply is more stable than previous years,” said Lee Seung-hyuk, analyst at Korea Investment and Securities.

Especially LG Innotek, the sole supplier of dual-lens camera modules, is pinning high hopes on the new phone launch. Upgraded camera functions powered by the dual-lens camera modules is a key feature of the new iPhone. 

According to recent news reports, Apple has also increased parts orders by 10 percent compared to previous years.

“Despite a decline in iPhone’s market share, the iPhone 7 is expected to sell 62 million units in the latter half of this year, up 21 percent from that of its predecessor iPhone 6S,” he added.

The analyst predicted the total iPhone shipments to stand at 216 million units this year, down 7 percent from last year.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)