iPhone 5 To Have Sony Camera Sensor?

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At a “Talking Tech” event hosted by the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg, Sony CEO Howard Stringer may have let slip that the iPhone 5 will use an 8-megapixel camera censor produced by Sony. During the chat, Stringer mentioned that the Japanese earthquake/tsunami had affected their plant in Sendai and that “getting image sensors to Apple will be delayed.” Uh, what was that Howard?

According to reports from folks were there, Stringer finds it ironic that his company was making the “best camera” for Apple. He’s quoted by the WSJ as saying “Why would I make Apple the best camera?”

Sir Howard Stringer may have accidentally confirmed a rumor from last year. That report (written up on this site by our Executive Editor Chris Smith) accurately predicted that the iPhone 4 would have a 5-megapixel camera, and also said that the fifth-generation iPhone would have a Sony-made 8-megapixel camera. Sony has never been tasked to produce any internal components for Apple’s mobile products before. California-based OmniVision Technology has been Apple’s choice for mobile products thus far.

One of the trademarks of the iPhone is it usually has one of the best (if not the best) cameras. Sony’s compact back-illuminated CMOS camera sensor, dubbed Exmor R, is actually one of the better ones out there, so it makes sense that Apple would go to them for the next iPhone.

Are you shocked that Sony would make something for Apple when they sell an HDTV with Google TV and they produce Android phones? Don’t be. Most of the Japanese technology firms (Samsung, Toshiba, Sharp, Sony, etc.) are huge conglomerates and in many cases, the manufacturing arms are run independently from the other divisions. Samsung manufactures the Apple A4 and A5 processors, for example, and I believe Toshiba made the iPhone LCD screens at one point. Yes, corporations want you to buy their products. But they also want other corporations to buy their products.

Anyway, thanks Sir Howard, for leaking us this information about the iPhone’s camera, if it’s true. Maybe he doesn’t care, as recent rumors have pegged the Welsh-born businessman as planning his successor at the Japanese electronics empire. This isn’t even the first leak right from Sir Howard, who accidentally slipped last year that PSN was coming to Sony Ericsson phones.