14 DAY TRIAL // Another company has been added to the iPad 3 supply chain, with industry sources reporting that Taiwan-based Radiant Opto-Electronics will be providing the backlight units (BLUs) for iPad 3 panels.
The LCD panels created by LG Display (LGD), Samsung Electronics and Sharp cannot provide their own light, which is where companies like the newly-contracted Radiant come in and complete the cycle.
The sources talking to trade publication Digitimes said that LG Display remains the biggest panel supplier for the Cupertino, California based giant, while Radiant will account for over half of the BLUs LGD needs for its panels.
Samsung will also source BLUs from Radiant. Sharp, will employ BLUs from a Japan-based supplier, in addition to Radiant, the sources said.
The sources also said that Sharp may overtake Samsung in orders from Apple, but only if it proves capable of running stable supplies of quality panels for the iPad 3.
People familiar with Apple’s plans quoted by the Wall Street Journal this month have said that Apple’s iPad 3 will feature a high resolution display capable of outputting visuals at 2048 by 1536 pixels.
The sources indicated that Apple’s iPad 3 is retaining the 9.7-inch form factor and that Apple only wishes to increase the pixel density.
Trial production of the A6 chip likely to be embedded in the iPad 3 is reportedly underway “in cooperation with Apple Inc.”, according Chinese industry reports hitting the wires earlier this month.
These sources have said that “the production design [will] be taped out in the first quarter of next year and [is] scheduled to be publicly unveiled in the second quarter at the earliest,” which would dismiss rumors of Apple launching its third-generation tablet this year.