Cupertino computing giant Apple has announced that California-based manufacturing company Finisar will receive $390 million USD in awarded funding.
The award is part of Apple’s Advanced Manufacturing Fund, and Finisar is expected to use the substantial endowment to increase its research into vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL) — the technology used in the iPhone X’s TrueDepth camera.
The True Depth camera itself uses VCSELs to project an array of 30,000 dots onto users faces. By mapping faces, the phone can unlock using Face ID, and can also transpose the user’s face onto apps like Animoji.
An Apple media release reports that Finisar will invest in transforming a 700,000-square foot manufacturing plant in Texas into the “high-tech VCSEL capital of the U.S.”
Apple also reported that “100 percent of the VCSELs Apple buys from Finisar will be made in Texas.”
“When you combine our proven ability to consistently manufacture exceptional products with our new state-of-the-art Sherman facility, we’re confident we can achieve our shared goal of providing consumers with incredibly exciting features,” said Jerry Rawls, CEO of Finisar, in the same Apple media release.
Apple has set aside $1 billion USD for its Advanced Manufacturing Fund, as a way of stimulating U.S.-based companies into improving their manufacturing efforts. No doubt, the fund is also a way of subtly exerting control and influence over some of the emerging manufacturing companies in the U.S.
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