I truly don’t understand how in 2023 with all the digitalization we have cars with backup cameras from at best a 2015 mid range smartphone. What’s preventing a manufacturer like bmw for an example from putting a high end sony sensor like the one on the iPhone 15 into their camera modules?
Well for starters, I don’t think you’re calculating in the sheer bulk amount that Apple buys their components in.
Apple sells more than 200 million iPhones per year. I’ll say that again: Apple sells over 200 million iPhones in just one year. Samsung sells over 250 million phones per year. Compare that to the largest car manufacturer Toyota which sells around 10 million cars per year. There is definitely a reduction in cost when you’re buying your components at such a large amount.
I would then say that car manufacturers approach the supply chain a bit different than your average tech company. They usually pick out a particular part and use it for many, many years before switching or upgrading. This is usually done because the part not only becomes cheaper over time, but it helps with the service side as well. It’s easier to fix parts under warranty when you have a particular part that’s been in production for years versus trying to chase down a part that was only produced for a couple of years.
It’s likely that backup cameras will become a lot better in these next couple of years are infotainment systems are upgraded with bigger/higher definition screens.