14 DAY TRIAL // Speculation has been steadily building around Apple introducing a tablet device next year, with most sources pinning down the launch for January. Now, according to DigiTimes, Foxconn's subsidiary Innolux will serve as the primary supplier of 10-inch panels for the still-rumored device, while Apple's primary iPhone display panel provider, Wintek, will be tasked with handling any remaining orders.
AppleInsider cites DigiTimes as saying that Apple has placed mass orders for 10-inch displays, strong glass panels, and connectors for the much-hyped tablet rumored to look like a big iPod touch, bearing the name “iSlate.” Whether accurate or not, these rumors seem to corroborate with talk of Apple “seeking solutions to strengthen the glass of the 10-inch panel” employed by this device, according to the DigiTimes. The move is said to have pushed the tablet’s launch date from January to anywhere until the end of Q1 2010.
Reportedly, “Foxconn's optical glass processing subsidiary G-Tech Optoelectronics will provide a glass strengthening process for the device, while Taiwan-based optical film maker Wah Hong Industrial has also reportedly landed component orders,” the report adds. “Apple is expected to announce the tablet PC in January of 2010 with mass shipments to start in March or April, based on analysis of the shipping schedules of Apple's upstream component partners.” For now, Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) still seems to be the company handling the entire project that is Apple’s tablet, including the assembly.
In a report published earlier today, Softpedia revealed to its readers that Apple had booked a stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco for late January, in what looks like a move dedicated to announcing the much-hyped tablet computer. Apple has historically used YBCA as a venue for major announcements.