Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s new iPad mini supply may be even worse than expected, claims a Japanese report, which is cause for concern for one of the Japanese carriers. The report raises the supply concern even further after Apple’s CEO, at the company’s earnings conference call on Monday, said “it’s unclear whether we’ll have enough for the quarter or not.”
Apple now exploring more options
According to a Nikkei report, citing a Display Search Japan analyst, out of two current display suppliers of Apple, LG Display and Sharp, only LG Display is slightly catching up with production, but overall the production looks bleak, and according to the report, even LG is nowhere near full production.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is now looking to Samsung for help, but it won’t matter in the short term as Samsung can only start volume production next year. NTT DoCoMo, which is the latest carrier selling iPhones and one of the largest, is concerned with the short supply. NTT DoCoMo is keen to sell the new iPad mini just like it started selling the iPhone 5S.
Launch date still not confirmed
The iPad mini with retina display starts at $399 with a display size of 7.9 inches. The new gadget comes with 2,048×1,536-pixel resolution, which comes to 326 pixels per inch, one of the highest-resolution tablets in the market.
At present, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has not come up with any definite date for iPad mini Retina availability, but Target.com expects the gadget to launch on November 21st. MacRumors noted that Target.com, an online retail store, displayed the specifics of a 16GB tablet with a price of $399.
Sharp may be responsible for the delay, and a glitch in production was suggested by a report in Digitimes a few days ago. According to Digitimes, Sharp is facing problems manufacturing the 7.9-inch display for Mini.
Rhoda Alexander, director of Tablet and Monitor Research at IHS iSuppli, told CNET last week that supply of the product is severely limited.
The main issue that the display makers are facing is making the pixel-dense Mini’s 7.9-inch 2048-by-1536 Retina display. The iPad Air comes with the same resolution, but in a smaller package that enhances pixel density, thus making it difficult for the manufacturers to produce the screen.
