According to Digitimes, iPad 2 supply might not be constrained by touch panels, but rather by the cover lenses needed for the touch panel modules.
Although Apple has reportedly sold between 2.4 to 2.5 million iPad 2s in March alone, and it’s thought that once supply ramps up, Apple may be able to ship over four million units per month through the coming financial quarter.
However, all of these plans could be stymied unless manufacturers ramp up their production of the necessary lens component. Right now, TPK Touch Solutions and G-Tech Optoelectronics are trying to produce more cover lenses for the iPad 2, along with competing devices… and many sales will be determined by their ability to cope with surprise demand.
At their EOY financial call, Apple COO Tim Cook made it clear that he thought Apple could have sold more iPads if they could have made enough of them to satisfy demand. He may very well be saying something similar at EOY 2011.
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
2 responses to “Digitimes: iPad 2 Touch Panel Cover Supply Is The Bottleneck”
There will be more demand than supply thru the end of the year. If the earthquake in Japan had not happened there would have been less of a problem, but still, with this being the most sought after tablet in history it will continue to be sold out in stores. If you want one you either must line up early in the morning at a store and hope you get the one you planned on, or just go to eBay and pay a couple hundred more and not waste any more time. I found a reputable 100% feedback seller and was happy with the transaction. I’m no longer waiting for one and got the one I wanted. Those 32 and 64GB ones are the hardest to find at stores. Radio Shack won’t carry any except the 16GB.