Is NextInput Next Winner in Apple Products?

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). (NextInput Inc. has appointed Ali Foughi as its CEO. The company is also relocating its headquarters from Georgia, Atlanta, to Silicon Valley)

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.

...."The company founders have done a great job of getting the company through its initial technology development phase. The board and I believe the company has grown to the point where it needs an experienced, results-oriented executive to lead NextInput through the next stage of growth," said Steve Nasiri, NextInput Board Member and the founder of InvenSense.

http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1327350&page_number=1