According to a latest report from DigiTimes; LG, Samsung and Sharp have been selected to supply new display panels for the iPad 3, which is due to be unleashed next year.
While it has formerly been announced that Apple would be sourcing displays from Samsung and LG but now, Sharp has also been included into the mix.
The final supplier’s consortium is now LG Display, Samsung Electronics, and Sharp, with LG Display having the lion’s share of iPad 3 display supplies and Samsung in second position, however it seems like Samsung could be dropped from that number two slot to Sharp.
According to anonymous industry sources Sharp has an opportunity of passing over the Korean rival if it is able to manage stable supplies of quality panels for the Apple tablet.
According to speculations, Apple’s iPad 3 is anticipated to feature a high resolution display with four times the pixel density on iPad 2. That’s the main reason why iPad 3′s launch has been delayed to next year spring, reports stated. According to the grapevine, Apple’s suppliers were not able to produce the high density display in adequate volumes for a launch this year. That might be the compelling force behind Apple’s strategy of selecting three display suppliers.
Taiwan-based Radiant Opto-Electronics will be making the backlight modules for these three suppliers. The supplier has offered the component for old iPad versions also. LG Display will be getting half its supply of iPad 3 panels from Radiant’s source, Samsung will be having them all from Radiant, and Sharp will be receiving panels from a Japan-based BLU supplier, and also from Radiant.
Apple has been methodically gathering things in place to make sure it does not fall into a situation of inadequate supply again. That’s what occurred in May when an event at Foxconn delayed operations for a while, making Apple lagged by 500,000 iPad 2 units at a time of peak demand. Apple is ensuring that this does not occur again.
