
3D sensing technology similar to the one currently available on the iPhone X won’t make its way to Android devices until 2019 the earliest, not because OEMs don’t want to, but due to the shortages caused by the currently limited production capacity.
Apple has already secured a big part of the supply chain, and with the company expected to launch three different iPhone models this year, all of which would feature Face ID facial recognition system and thus require 3D sensing camera, it could eat up the entire output until at least next year.
Three of the companies building such systems, namely Viavi Solutions Inc, Finisar Corp, and Ams AG, told Reuters that while the feature is projected to launch on Android devices as well, it’ll take some 12 months before this happens. The first Android phones getting 3D sensing cameras will go on sale in 2019, but only a few of them will get such capabilities, most likely from high-end manufacturers like Samsung.