More than 45 percent of AMS sales go to Apple, and it has had a miserable year as Apple slashed orders amid falling sales. AMS is an Austrian company listed in Switzerland and so far has not identified Apple as a customer but the Tame Apple Press insists that the invention will go to Apple because it is super cool and innovative. After this year, though, AMS might want to flog it to a company that will pay it more money.
“By developing this ‘behind OLED’ ambient light/proximity sensor, AMS enables smartphone manufacturers to achieve the highest possible ratio of the display area to body size”, AMS said in a statement on the launch of the new device.
“The TCS3701 enables phone designers to take this trend to a new level, potentially eliminating the bezel”, AMS said, using the new device’s name. The bezel is the border between a smartphone’s display and its frame.
Light sensors are used to set display brightness, while infrared sensors are used in areas such as facial recognition.
AMS’s shares closed up 9.6 percent, but they peaked earlier in the session after the company announced a deal with Chinese software maker Face++ to produce new 3D facial recognition features for smartphones.