Sharp's Low Yield of Displays Reportedly Causing Retina iPad Mini Shortage

MacRumors · Oct 30, 2013

A day after Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that it is unclear as to whether Apple will have enough supply of the Retina iPad mini to meet market demand, Digitimes is reporting that Japanese manufacturer Sharp is tied to the shortage, citing low yield rates of displays from the company.

Multiple sources have suggested that the Retina iPad mini will be in limited supply throughout 2013, which has been all but confirmed by Apple's nebulous November release date. According to a report from last week, following its November debut, Retina iPad mini supplies could be "ridiculously tight" until 2014.

However, while supplies of the Retina iPad mini will be constrained, supplies of the iPad Air are expected to be more plentiful, as the company will offer same day in-store pickup for orders of the new full-sized tablet. As noted by Apple during the introduction of the second-generation iPad mini, a Retina display has been one of the most requested features for the smaller iPad since its release last year.

Article Link: Sharp's Low Yield of Displays Reportedly Causing Retina iPad Mini Shortage

Kariya · Oct 30, 2013

This is why i'm not holding my breath for IGZO. Sharp simply doesn't have the ability to churn out screens like LG and Sammie.

jont-fu · Oct 30, 2013

Kariya said:
This is why i'm not holding my breath for IGZO. Sharp simply doesn't have the ability to churn out screens like LG and Sammie.

Do we know for fact that the screens are NOT igzo?

bruinselmann · Oct 30, 2013

jont-fu said:
Do we know for fact that the screens are NOT igzo?

Yes, all iPads use IPS panels.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/compare/

mrmarts · Oct 30, 2013

I hate LG Panels so if the new mini uses a Sharp display i shall warmly welcome it, in spite of the delay.

OSMac · Oct 30, 2013

Will low yield mean lower QC standards and more light bleed, dead / stuck pixels etc., on release?

jont-fu · Oct 30, 2013

bruinselmann said:
Yes, all iPads use IPS panels.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/compare/

Can't IGZO displays still be IPS? I mean, IGZO just allows the semiconductor part of the panel to block less light and therefore have better effieciency. According to Wikipedia IGZO can be also used to drive OLED displays.

caspersoong · Oct 30, 2013

Why does Apple always face shortage in supply? Does Samsung? I'm quite confused. Apple should have an excellent supply chain. They can afford more expensive methods of production given their wide profit margins. Yet they continually struggle to meet demand. Why?

macchiato2009 · Oct 30, 2013

this is ridiculous,

suppliers usually know quite a long time in advance that they will have to manufacture upcoming products

how can they be short on stock ?

and considering how long they have been working with Apple already, how could this happen ?

i believe it's simply an excuse made up by Apple just to force people buying the more expensive iPad Air during iPad mini retina shortage

everything-i · Oct 30, 2013

OSMac said:
Will low yield mean lower QC standards and more light bleed, dead / stuck pixels etc., on release?

No, it actually means they are applying the same QC standards and having to bin a lot more panels because of it. If they lowered the standard more panels would then get accepted. I think after the LG light leak problems a couple of years back the QC will be tight. No point churning out iPads that get returned because of dead pixels.

SqB · Oct 30, 2013

everything-i said:
No, it actually means they are applying the same QC standards and having to bin a lot more panels because of it.

Bin=What a great deal for those android tablet manufacturers who will be getting a bargain basement deal on some "nearly perfect" screens.

everything-i · Oct 30, 2013

macchiato2009 said:
this is ridiculous,

suppliers usually know quite a long time in advance that they will have to manufacture upcoming products

how can they be short on stock ?

and considering how long they have been working with Apple already, how could this happen ?

i believe it's simply an excuse made up by Apple just to force people buying the more expensive iPad Air during iPad mini retina shortage

This is a complex problem, there will have been plans to deliver the required number of displays on time but when you are talking millions of units and manufacturing production lines have problems ramping up production for whatever reason shortages can easily occur. Apple pushes the limits with many of its product releases which is why they frequently have issues like this early on in new product life cycles. I don't see the conspiracy theory holding up especially as the small tablet market is now very competitive and shortages will easily lead to lost sales.

ammusk · Oct 30, 2013

everything-i said:
No, it actually means they are applying the same QC standards and having to bin a lot more panels because of it. If they lowered the standard more panels would then get accepted. I think after the LG light leak problems a couple of years back the QC will be tight. No point churning out iPads that get returned because of dead pixels.

You're probably right. And I hope you are.

But waiting at least a month before buying a product (until they iron out the kinks) would be ideal.

Otherwise there may be some kind of an issue:

1. iPhone 5s battery issues
2. iPhone 5 scratching
3. iPhone 4 yellow screen
4. iPad 3rd gen heat

69650 · Oct 30, 2013

Maybe they should stick with Samsung for their displays given all the problems they seem to have with the other suppliers.

RightMACatU · Oct 30, 2013

Is it just me that feels like I'm watching the movie "Goundhog Day"?
We get it... there might not be enought for eveyone to play for a while.

everything-i · Oct 30, 2013

ammusk said:
You're probably right. And I hope you are.

But waiting at least a month before buying a product (until they iron out the kinks) would be ideal.

Otherwise there may be some kind of an issue:

1. iPhone 5s battery issues
2. iPhone 5 scratching
3. iPhone 4 yellow screen
4. iPad 3rd gen heat

Never buy on day one, let the reviews come in and the early adopters raise all the issues before jumping in.

To be fair number 4 was not an issue at all, just something for the media circus to get talking about. Nothing failed because of it and it didn't get hot enough to cause anyone injury. Also it looks like 1 is a bad batch of batteries which could happen at any time in a devices life cycle.

Plutonius · Oct 30, 2013

I can wait for all the beta testers to find the problems and Apple to fix them before I buy

.

michaelsviews · Oct 30, 2013

Really Apple

Shortages ? or Marketing Tactic ?

Hmmmmm

mabhatter · Oct 30, 2013

caspersoong said:
Why does Apple always face shortage in supply? Does Samsung? I'm quite confused. Apple should have an excellent supply chain. They can afford more expensive methods of production given their wide profit margins. Yet they continually struggle to meet demand. Why?

Because Apple is buying TENS OF MILLIONS of panels.. That's multiple factories' yearly outputs. Apple is elling as many iPads with top of the line displays per year now as PC makers (all of them) sell laptops (with many crappy screens) The sheer scale of Apple versus everybody else is staggering.

----------

Shaun said:
Maybe they should stick with Samsung for their displays given all the problems they seem to have with the other suppliers.

Because Samsung can't be respectful as a business PARTNER when Apple delivers multiple BILLIONS of dollars of sales to its factories. Proper business partners don't badmouth their CUSTOMER'S products on TV.

weckart · Oct 30, 2013

caspersoong said:
Why does Apple always face shortage in supply? Does Samsung? I'm quite confused. Apple should have an excellent supply chain. They can afford more expensive methods of production given their wide profit margins. Yet they continually struggle to meet demand. Why?

Apple isn't the only tablet maker in town. Samsung, LG et al are also looking after their own.

rmatthewware · Oct 30, 2013

Shaun said:
Maybe they should stick with Samsung for their displays given all the problems they seem to have with the other suppliers.

It's never a good idea to be dependent on one supplier. It's good to diversify sources. Even if Apple and Samsung had a good relationship I would hope Apple would cultivate multiple sources.

----------

Isn't Apple propping Sharp up financially?

Gasu E. · Oct 30, 2013

macchiato2009 said:
this is ridiculous,

suppliers usually know quite a long time in advance that they will have to manufacture upcoming products
how can they be short on stock ?
and considering how long they have been working with Apple already, how could this happen ?
i believe it's simply an excuse made up by Apple just to force people buying the more expensive iPad Air during iPad mini retina shortage

When I saw the thread, I was wondering how long it would take to get to the Apple market-control conspiracy theory. Thanks!

Casiotone · Oct 30, 2013

macchiato2009 said:
this is ridiculous,

suppliers usually know quite a long time in advance that they will have to manufacture upcoming products

how can they be short on stock ?

and considering how long they have been working with Apple already, how could this happen ?

i believe it's simply an excuse made up by Apple just to force people buying the more expensive iPad Air during iPad mini retina shortage

Do you think that new technology appears out of thin air?

Of course Apple has been trying all year long to get these screens mass produced.

Can you find a mass-produced tablet with a screen bigger than 7" that has 326dpi or more? (the 9.7" iPad air has 264dpi)

The 7.9" retina screen on the mini is 35% bigger than the 2013 Nexus 7 screen (at the same dpi), which makes a big difference in terms of LCD manufacturing reducing yields by an exponential amount.

And the funny thing is that what we consider a "shortage" for the retina mini probably means "only" a few million units, which will be probably more than the Nexus 7 production for the holidays even though the retina mini is much harder to produce.

JAT · Oct 30, 2013

SqB said:
Bin=What a great deal for those android tablet manufacturers who will be getting a bargain basement deal on some "nearly perfect" screens.

Heh, heh. Well, if they had the same size screen that might be true. But they don't, so it won't.

----------

ammusk said:
You're probably right. And I hope you are.

But waiting at least a month before buying a product (until they iron out the kinks) would be ideal.

Don't worry, he's right. That's the definition of "yield".

Good idea about patience, also.

JHankwitz · Oct 30, 2013

OSMac said:
Will low yield mean lower QC standards and more light bleed, dead / stuck pixels etc., on release?

No, it means the defects are being sorted out and scrapped while the mfg. systems are being upgraded. Only acceptable product is sent out to customers.

----------

macchiato2009 said:
this is ridiculous,

suppliers usually know quite a long time in advance that they will have to manufacture upcoming products. how can they be short on stock ?

Knowing the lead time does not automatically enable adequate quality production.

Sharp's Low Yield of Displays Reportedly Causing Retina iPad Mini Shortage

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