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iPad mini iPad Mini shortage is overblown.

Southernboyj

Southernboyj

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 8, 2012
1,696
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Mobile, AL
I believe Tim Cook's statement on expecting iPad Mini shortages is overblown.

Lets think about this for a second.

Shortages are mostly caused from supply not keeping up with demand due to component shortages.

What component would be short? The case? No. The processor? Unlikely, they're churning them out in the iPhone 5S and the iPad Air. They would all have the same shortage if it was the A7 chip.

Most people would agree it's due to the new retina display. However, this display isn't new. Incase you didn't know how these displays are manufactured.. in the factory the display is gigantic.. It's then cut into smaller displays.

Apple tends to use the same display sheets for multiple devices to lower cost and increase manufacturing productivity.

Notice how the iPad Mini's 2048x1536 7.9" display has a PPI of 326, the exact same as the iPhone 4-5S and the iPod Touch? This isn't a coincidence. In order for a sheet to be compatible with the Retina Mini while maintaining the exact resolution as the full sized iPad.. the pixel grid needs to be in the aspect ratio 4:3 which is what the iPad and iPad Mini use.

You might think "The iPhone 5S is a 16:9 display". Technically yes, but also no.

The iPhone 4 which was the first retina iPhone used a 960x640 display with an aspect ratio of 4:3. With the iPhone 5, they kept the same sheets but cut it longer. Thats why the iPhone 5 has a weird resolution (1136x640). It's the same sheets.

It's for this reason that the Retina Mini can and does use the exact same display sheets as the iPhone 4, 4S, 5, 5S, and all Retina iPod Touches.

They've been making the same sheet for years.. so I find it hard to believe that a display shortage would be the cause of the problem. What do you guys think?


EDIT: I forgot to mention the original iPad Mini (163ppi) used the exact same display sheet as the pre-retina iPhones/iPod Touches. They also had 163ppi.
 
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The problem is apparently with the supplier Sharp producing enough screens. On the front page of this site, there is an article which says Apple is going to Samsung etc to get more screens. If that is the case I may just wait it out or go with an Air.
 
I firmly believe that the shortages will pertain to the first few weeks of orders and not much after that. I'm pretty sure we'll be on early enough to order our Minis when they have supply. I think when they say "low supply", they might mean the ability for people to just casually pick one up and not seek for it.

Who knows, though? But we'll get it by the end of the year I'm sure, because we're inclined to go to far ends to get our products (early online orders, waiting in lines, etc.). The casual buyers might not get theirs until next year, though.
 
Yeah, it's not going to be that short, the reason they say that is they still think the mini might sell like the original, but at 399 and only $100 more for an Air...more people are going to jump to the Air.

So really the Air is whats going to take the pressure off the Mini supply, the Air is the new Mini:D
 
betabeta said:
Yeah, it's not going to be that short, the reason they say that is they still think the mini might sell like the original, but at 399 and only $100 more for an Air...more people are going to jump to the Air.

So really the Air is whats going to take the pressure off the Mini supply, the Air is the new Mini:D
Click to expand...

To me and you $100 is not a lot but for other people, that is a lot.

Also just because they are close in price some still prefer a smaller device and now they are specd the same I could see more people wanting a mini.
 
PhoenixMac said:
To me and you $100 is not a lot but for other people, that is a lot.

Also just because they are close in price some still prefer a smaller device and now they are specd the same I could see more people wanting a mini.
Click to expand...

To people that think $100 is a lot, I foresee the $400 Mini being an even harder sale in a time when a Nexus 7 is $229 with a screen just as good.
 
Southernboyj said:
To people that think $100 is a lot, I foresee the $400 Mini being an even harder sale in a time when a Nexus 7 is $229 with a screen just as good.
Click to expand...

I'm talking about people who buy Apple products, sure the nexus is a great tablet but it's not iOS.
 
Southernboyj said:
Most people would agree it's due to the new retina display. However, this display isn't new. Incase you didn't know how these displays are manufactured.. in the factory the display is gigantic.. It's then cut into smaller displays.

Apple tends to use the same display sheets for multiple devices to lower cost and increase manufacturing productivity.

They've been making the same sheet for years.. so I find it hard to believe that a display shortage would be the cause of the problem. What do you guys think?
Click to expand...
Same panel but they're cutting it into 7.9" diagonal instead 3.5" or 4". If there's a single bad pixel on that 7.9", then they can't use it. Meanwhile, for the 3.5" or 4", you can still use around 3 out of the 4 from the same area.

I think Apple will have a lot of supply available, but likely less than the Air. What they can't predict is consumer demand. Oh well, I'm hoping the Air will lower demand for the Mini 2 and that the more price sensitive iOS buyers will settle for the original Mini. :rolleyes:
 
I'm not going to pretend I know everything about how the displays come off the supply chain (and neither should you), but I imagine its a lot tougher than just merely cutting a larger screen from the same display sheet. It's not like a cookie sheet after all ... these are displays we're talking about.

I think you might be oversimplifying it ...
 
Vctr said:
I'm not going to pretend I know everything about how the displays come off the supply chain (and neither should you), but I imagine its a lot tougher than just merely cutting a larger screen from the same display sheet. It's not like a cookie sheet after all ... these are displays we're talking about.

I think you might be oversimplifying it ...
Click to expand...
He's actually quite right. Like I mentioned earlier though, it'll be much less tolerant of dead/stuck pixels, etc.
 
The conspiracy theorist in me would say the so-called "shortage" has indeed been overblown. Apple knows the Mini is or has become the more popular model, so it's only in their best interest to release the larger more expensive product first and advertise it as a new product line ("Air"). Maximize those sales, and then create a "shortage"-based (plus additional wait) demand/hype for the more popular product. It's classic Apple strategy. Many people like myself who are on the fence become impatient, and then once the item seems unobtainable, we want it more.

There's probably some truth to it, but come one, these guys are smart, they know exactly how to manipulate things to their advantage.
 
I am so thankful some random, anonymous person on an Apple forum let us know that the shortage has been overblown! I can rest easy!
 
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