Samsung will reportedly begin producing a three-layer stacked image sensor for Apple’s iPhone 18 in Texas. The deal with Apple will help the South Korean company avoid President Trump’s strict tariffs policy and cut out Sony as the sole image-sensor maker for iPhones, according to the Financial Times.
The three-layer stacked image sensors enable fast shooting speeds and high-frame-rate 8K video in smartphones. On Wednesday, Apple said it was “working with Samsung at its fab [semiconductor fabrication facility] in Austin, Texas, to launch an innovative new technology for making chips, which has never been used before anywhere in the world.”
The statement was part of Apple’s overall announcement that it was launching the American Manufacturing Program, part of a $600 billion investment to increase its supply chain and manufacturing in the US.
Representatives for Apple and Samsung did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Higher prices for US consumers
More US-based manufacturing of iPhone parts could mean “significantly higher” prices for iPhones, depending on how many parts are made in the US, said Andrew Chang, director of corporate ratings at S&P Global.
“However, subsidies or better financing terms by wireless carriers could lessen the impact to the consumer,” Chang said. “Quality should be on par with China-made iPhones over time, given Apple’s stellar reputation for product quality.”
Thursday’s report by the Financial Times clarifies what Apple’s “innovative new technology” will mean for the iPhone 18. Apple’s move will allow it to avoid penalties from President Trump, who on Wednesday announced 100% tariffs on computer chips but added, “If you’re building in the United States of America, there’s no charge.”
Amid Trump’s push for more US-based manufacturing of tech products, he has had to backtrack on claims that his new T1 phone would be “designed and built in the United States.” The Trump Mobile website now ambiguously states that the phone will be made “with American hands behind every device.”
In response to the new Trump tariff regime, Samsung is investing billions to increase manufacturing in the US, while Sony is producing iPhone image sensors in Kumamoto, Japan, under a contract with the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.
100% ‘Made in USA’ iPhones are unlikely
Chang said it’s unlikely that all iPhone parts will be made in the US.
“We don’t think Apple has the appetite to move iPhone assembly to the US as the supply chain is too costly to replicate in the US,” he said. “That said, given the pressure tech companies are facing from the current administration (yesterday’s White House announcement notwithstanding), the probability of some portion of iPhones being manufactured or assembled in the US is increasing from zero likelihood to low likelihood.”
Last month, CNET reported that Samsung Display Company — a separate entity from Samsung — would be producing the screens for the first iPhone foldable, reportedly to be launched next summer.
