Apple may not sell close to the number of Apple Watches it wants to in the coming months — and it’ll have nothing to do with lack of demand on the part of customers.
According to a new report, Apple’s plans to manufacture between 2.5 and 3 million smartwatches every month could be cut by as much as half thanks to supplier yield problems, which mean that only 1.25 – 1.5 million watches are being churned out every four weeks.
The new report claims that manufacturer LG is having problems with the display, leading to a dismal 30 to 40 percent yield capacity.
Apparently the plastic OLED panels used for the watch are made lighter and more flexible by using PET (polyethylene terephthalate) instead of a glass substrate. However, manufacturing plastic OLEDs requires a different method than usual to create the vacuum between the OLED panel and the plastic substrate — thereby making the manufacture of Apple Watch displays more complex than expected.
Another issue supposedly concerns Quanta’s inability to assemble the watches on schedule. As a laptop maker, Quanta is said to be struggling to put together the smaller smartwatches as fast as planned; leading to a slower rate of production than expected.
Seeing as this is Apple’s first major new mass market product line since the iPad, some first generation teething problems are expected, but hopefully any issues Apple is struggling with can be ironed out soon so that Apple Watch supply isn’t artificially suppressed due to a lack of available products.
Source: UDN
Via: GforGames
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
6 responses to “Manufacturing issues could slash Apple Watch supply in half”
I’m not usually this cynical, but I really think this type of “a new report” leaks in order to drive pre-orders and a first day sales frenzy. If people think there is short supply they’ll clamor to get it before shipping dates start reaching into the weeks and months long.
“According to a new report” Oh My!!
Bogus claims. These things may have been valid this time last year. They don’t announce a product release and then start figuring out the manufacturing process.
Exactly….
Remember the Wii “shortages”? A year after they came out and they kept the store shelves virtually empty to make it seem like they were un-gettable… genius if you ask me.
You don’t cut the production in half so late in the production.
You do so if you see the demand for that thing is simply not what you thought it would be.
Additionally, you fake a sense of urgency to buy the thing, because who knows, tomorrow they might not have one.
Isn’t Apple doing that thing every single year?
You would think they learned by now.