LONDON — NextInput Inc., a startup founded in 2012, could be the latest MEMS sensor company to be catapulted to fame and fortune by design wins with that doyen of consumer electronics, Apple. NextInput (Atlanta, Georgia) has started shipping its "ForceTouch" sensor and Apple's iPhone 6s or will it be iPhone 7 is expected to debut in September with a feature called Force Touch. Add to that the fact that the company has just imported a CEO from Apple supplier InvenSense and circumstantial evidence starts to favor NextInput (see Force-sensitive touch sensor startup gains CEO). InvenSense was one of the design slot winners in the Apple iPhone 6 last September (see InvenSense, Bosch, NXP winners in iPhone 6). Could this be a case of Apple asking the startup to install an experienced executive as CEO to make sure they can handle a sudden ramp to 10s of millions of units? According to the Wall Street Journal Apple is asking for its contract manufacturers and suppliers to make 85 million and 90 million units of two new iPhone models with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays by Dec. 31, 2015. NextInput was founded as a spin-off from Georgia Institute of Technology to commercialize a pressure-sensitive sensor technology. The company says that multiple sensors can be placed under a display surface or track pad and offer a lower-cost solution that also consumes less power when compared with capacitive touch. Mobile equipment makers always welcome lower power. However, it may not be such a rapid ramp for NextInput as the company could already be shipping into the Apple Watch and certain versions of the MacBook, where the pressure sensitive technology allows software to differentiate between a light tap and a deep press and respond accordingly. Next Input's ForceTouch can also sense multipoint touch can sense the location and amount of force from each touch point down to sub-millimeter spatial resolution, and sub-millinewton force resolution. NextInput said it has just begun sampling its FT4010F ForceTouch sensor with software and algorithms to enable 1D, 2D and 3D touch control. The good news is that NextInput can be looking at selling between four and six sensor per piece of equipment.
If Apple is to ship its next generation iPhone with the Force Touch sensor, NextInput, a spin-off from Georgia Institute of Technology, could become a major success in the technology industry. NextInput which was started in September has all the signs of a supplier preparing for significant growth bringing in a new CEO from a current Apple supplier.