iPad 2 and iPhone 4 shortages expected due to Japan earthquake

[zenio]

"Two of Apple’s component suppliers, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co and Toshiba, have reportedly shut down some of their operations in Japan in the wake of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. According to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, this could result in shortages of Apple’s iPad 2 and iPhone 4 in March, through the rest of the first quarter, and into June."

http://www.bgr.com/2011/03/17/ipad-...expected-in-wake-of-japan-earthquake-tsunami/

 

[Krandor]

If that is true and it does affect production I bet we will see the global launch date pushed back.

 

[stringbeanie]

Don't start a panic

AppleInsider:

Potentially helping to mitigate the affect of this month's natural disaster is Apple's strategic component purchasing deals, which have seen the company secure long-term supply arrangements (1, 2, 3, 4) for key components such as flash memory and displays from multiple vendors in order to create a layer of protection and redundancy that kicks in during situations such as these.


The demand and gray market are the real problems with getting ahold of the iPad2.

 

[Virtute]

If that is true and it does affect production I bet we will see the global launch date pushed back.

Apple is already stockpiling for the international launch date. It's only eight days away, so there's no way they couldn't be. I think that's why there's a shortage of AT&T models arriving at American Apple stores, because every other country needs the GSM models.

I do think it's possible, however, that they will cut down on the number of countries that it's launching in, but I don't think they'll just scrap the international launch altogether.

 

[macking104]

http://www.digitimes.com has good information on component manufacturers affected by earthquake/tsunami

Toshiba produces about 35% of the NAND/Flash memory used in tablets... they had production problems before the quake... and after.