Apple's first phablet, the iPhone 6, is likely to benefit from Japanese technology and will boast of a big IGZO display made by Sharp and a main shooter that employs a 16MP camera lens, which Sony will supply.

Citing reports from Asian publications, Patently Apple claimed in a recently published article that Apple seems to favour the 8G Glass substrates as the materials to be used on the rumoured large-screen iPhone 6.

While other suppliers remain in the consideration list, Sharp is emerging as the strongest contender since the firm from Japan has been playing a major role in Apple's supply chain. The components manufacturer further strengthened its ties with the iPhone maker as Samsung is gradually eased out from Apple's manufacturing road map.

Prior to the emergence of the Galaxy devices, the South Korean tech giant was relied upon by Apple for key parts that made their way to previous builds of iPhones and iPads.

Now, Sharp has become one of Apple's preferred business partners and one justification to this, Patently Apple said, is the fact that "Sharp will be the first company in the world to achieve commercial production of high-definition LCD panels for smartphones."

It is understood that Sharp has the full capacity to manufacture and ship out large volumes of IGZO display panel in time for the rumoured touchdown of the iPhone 6, which many analyst have set on Q1 2014.

Further, Sharp's advanced display technology is well suited to the deemed radical redesign of the next-generation iPhone, which is seen to sport a massive screen, ranging from 4.7-inch to 5.7-inch, and a thinner profile from the iPhone 5S.

"The highly efficient production levels achievable with 8G glass substrates will be made possible by an optimized production process as well as by IGZO technology's ability to enable smaller thin-film transistors and increased light transmittance," said the same report.

And to be paired with this already impressive bump up, Apple appears to be mulling a major jump on the existing iPhone camera features, likely doubling the 5S' 8MP to 16MP, according to a separate Patently Apple report.

The iPhone 6 camera will centre on "the 16 million pixel complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor," technology, of which Sony and Samsung are now slugging it out to become the dominant supplier of smartphone makers.

Any of the two is able to meet the Apple camera make requirements but it is quite possible that Sony will edge out Samsung for the honours in building the iPhone 6 main shooter.

It has been widely reported that Samsung is planning to debut its Galaxy S5 on 2014 with the same camera attributes so it is but natural for Apple to look on Sony's way.

"Sony is likely to supply Apple with the new sensors for next year's iPhone 6, though final testing has yet to be completed," the Apple-centric tech site said.

The iPhone 6 is likely to come out anytime within the first half of 2014 but analysts seem convinced that the release date would be earlier, specifically between January and March of the same year.