[ET NEWS] Samsung Electronics is currently developing its own dual-lens camera with aims to adopt the first one for its upcoming new Note phone, tentatively called the Galaxy Note 8, multiple industry sources told ET News on May 19.

According to sources, Samsung had attempted to feature a dual-lens camera in the latest flagship Galaxy S8 but the plan was ditched at the last minute due to high parts prices and design issues. 

A dual-lens camera that upgrades camera functions like those of a DSLR camera is increasingly being adopted by premium smartphones in the market. Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, has yet to adopt the function for its phones.

Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus features a dual-lens camera, while LG Electronics and Huawei have also adopted the upgraded camera for their latest flagship smartphones.

Samsung’s planned adoption is expected to be a boon for the nation’s parts industry overall. The module price is almost 1.5-fold more expansive than a single-lens camera.

LG Innotek, the parts unit of LG Group, is the market leader supplying the camera module for iPhone. In the fourth quarter last year, the company earned more than 1 trillion won (US$888.21 billion) in camera module sales alone.

Market research firm Techno System Research predicts the demand for dual-lens cameras will soar from 76 million units last year to 600 million units by 2020 when three out of 10 smartphones are expected to feature the upgraded camera.

By Yun Keon-il and Park So-ra
(benyun@etnews.com) (srpark@etnews.com) (jylee@heraldcorp.com)
Powered by ET News and The Investor