A good move by Sony regarding their highly profitable image sensor division. Mike Wuerthele from appleinsider writes this:

 As a result of Apple’s demand for the iPhone 7, and future iPhone models, supply from Sony to second-tier vendors is heavily constrained, according to a report from DigiTimes. Sources claim that Sony is focusing its output on Apple, Huawei, and Oppo for the vast majority of its supply.

Apple is Sony’s largest customer for CMOS image sensors. Sony focuses on mid-range and high-end smartphones, and is one of the only suppliers for the quality of sensors that Apple needs. 

So why is this good news? Simply put, demand. Apple sells a lot of phones and all of them are high-end devices which utilizes Sony’s high-end CMOS sensors. Those sensors in turn cost Apple more money, making way for greater revenue and profits for Sony. Apple also does a consistent amount of sales each quarter, making them a reliable partner for Sony whereas other phone makers like Asus and HTC’s sales come and go with the wind.

Sony has been pushing hard to advance their image sensors which are an industry best and a key part of their strategy for remaining profitable. In mobile, Sony lost out on the opportunity to compete with Apple years ago but with their image sensors, they have a chance at profiting off of their competitor and in turn, linking the two companies’s success together.

As for Huawei and Oppo, both companies utilize more mid-range image sensors which allows Sony to diversify their clientele and production line.