Short supply of tablet and notebook displays imminent and likely to last

Nov 21, 2012 15:10 GMT  ·  By

Making touchscreens, especially the type that can recognize different pressure levels, involves the utilization of pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) and panel polarizer protective films.

Many manufacturers of displays get these materials from a certain company in Japan, but they will have trouble getting their orders met for a while.

An explosion reportedly took place at the Japanese plant in question. Also, the other purveyors of such goods have relatively low stores as well.

LG Display will be among the most affected. Had the explosion been smaller, the company, and its fellow “victims,” could have weathered the problem just through good, old fashioned waiting.

Alas, the damaged plant will take until the end of 2013 to repair, so the shortage is here for the long haul.

It looks like tablets have another reason to become more expensive instead of the other way around.