Apple is years ahead of Android competitors with the iPhone X, says analyst

The iPhone X's new TrueDepth camera system is rumored to be causing some production delays, but it could give Apple an important edge over its competitors for years to come.

Renown analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities said Apple's competitors will likely need at least two and a half years to replicate the TrueDepth camera's functionality and user experience in an investors note obtained by MacRumors. The system is the key to Apple's new "Face ID" biometric security technology, Animoji, and several other new features.

Kuo's bold predictions come shortly after he watched Apple's official demonstrations of the camera system, which made him believe even more that the competition won't be able to match it. He previously said that he thought rival phone makers would need one or two years to catch up.

Kuo's new predictions about the competition come with slightly lower expectations for the iPhone X's success in the short term. KGI revised its 2017 shipping estimates from 40 million to 30 to 35 million units — but the lower projection was due only to the continuing concerns about the X's production, not demand. Kuo wrote that he has "full confidence" that the X will be a long-term success.

Apple stumbled slightly and the public shared a gleeful moment of schadenfreude when exec Craig Federighi struggled to demo FaceID onstage during the X's coming out party, but the company claimed that the fail was actually the result of the system doing its job to require a passcode after too many unverified unlock attempts.

Once consumers have a chance to check out the TrueDepth for themselves, we'll see if it can live up to all the hype. If Apple fans embrace the iPhone X's facial tracking features and FaceID functionality like they did when Touch ID debuted with the iPhone 5S, competitors face the uphill task of developing their own spin on the tech to catch up.