One of Apple’s key components suppliers is getting ready to open a new production facility.
In a statement announcing its upcoming factory opening, Texas-based Finisar explained that the 3D Sensing Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser technology to be produced by the facility is “used in a wide range of applications.” But the highest-profile of these is the laser technology’s use in Face ID, the 3D face mapping technology used in Apple’s iPhone X.
It’s also the most significant application with respect to Finisar’s business, with Apple having announced a $390 million investment in Finisar toward the end of last year. Finisar has used this funding to prepare its new factory, and to hire almost 200 employees, with further hires anticipated for later this year.
Apple’s investment points to further applications of Face ID to come, with many analysts expecting all of Apple’s new iPhones for 2018, as well as forthcoming iPad tablets, to use the facial recognition system for user authentication. Finisar isn’t Apple’s only supplier for this laser technology, but in its statement the company said that its new factory “is on target to commence production by the end of this calendar year,” adding later that its additional staff will “support the anticipated ramp to high volume production.”
Finisar will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new factory on July 9th, featuring the company’s executive team and community leaders from the town of Sherman, Texas, in which it is located.
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