Apple scales chip orders as iPhone 12 sales surge

San Francisco: Apple is planning to increase orders of chips for the LiDAR scanners owing to high demand for its iPhone 12 Pro. Vertical-cavity surface-emitting (VCSEL) chips enable power scaling for LiDAR and other sensing applications.

DigiTimes reported on Saturday, citing sources, that "Apple is placing more orders for VCSEL chips as the lead time for pre-orders for the iPhone 12 Pro has been extended to 2-3 weeks compared to 2-3 days for the iPhone 12". The iPhone maker had reportedly prepared more stocks for the more affordable iPhone 12 on the assumption that demand would be higher for the entry-level 6.1-inch model.