Apple has introduced 3D sensing modules in iPhone X for the first time, together with neural network embedded in its A11 chip. 3D sensing modules record three-dimensional data while A11 chip processes large amounts of data, allowing iPhone X to learn and identify a variety of facial details and expressions. The modules also ensure that users can be correctly identified even when their appearances change, making it more difficult to counterfeit.

2018 just began but we already knew before that new technologies such as 3D sensing are going to be huge this year after the launch of Apple’s iPhone X last September. Using faces to unlock phones and personalize expressive Animojis are probably the two most memorable features that make 3D sensing widely known of among consumers. Surely, other phone makers will not let go of a chance to sport their products with similar capabilities, hence we learn the projection that the total value of the global market of mobile 3D Sensing is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 209% from USD 1.5 billion in 2017 to USD 14 billion by 2020.

3D facial recognition has come into the spotlight after Apple’s introduction of Face ID in the iPhone X. Companies in the supply chain have also become the new focuses of inestors. In fact, 3D sensing technology has been around for years, but did not have commercial applications of facial recognition in smartphones until 2017. The reasons why it happened in 2017 can be explained in terms of components, modules and subsystems, computing and systems, end-devices and applications.

Major smartphone vendors like Samsung and Apple have been making improvements regarding unlocking devices beyond password-based methods, resulting in the rapid development of biometrics recognition in smartphones. In addition to smartphones, biometrics authentication methods will also be used in tablets and wearable devices. Particularly, iris scanning and facial recognition require infrared (IR) LED components, which will boost the growth in this niche LED market. This will be a new battlefield and a chance of transformation for Taiwanese LED components suppliers.

VCSEL (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser) technology has been at the center stage in the tech world of late, in the wake of the debut of the new iPhone X, which contains a 3D sensing module with VCSELs as its core components. Their importance even made Apple fork over quite an amount of money to secure some of the VCSEL shipment from Finisar, a laser chip producer.

The iPhone X has sparked a heated discussion of 3D sensing technology in 2017, and Apple will continue to develop 3D sensing. On the other hand, vendors of Android smartphones will also follow the trend, pushing up the demand for Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL), a key component for 3D sensing technology. Therefore, VCSEL manufacturers now race to lay the foundation in this segment.