New Suppliers Interested in Making Apple’s Next-Gen ‘iTV’ - Report

A new report from industry publication DigiTimes in Taiwan seems to indicate that multiple part manufacturers in Asia are rushing to win orders from Apple for the company’s rumored iTV product launching next year.

In addition to Samsung Electronics and Sharp, the two companies that are reportedly handling the chip and display production, three more hardware vendors are named by industry sources as having “the potential to win orders for Apple's smart TV.”

Those companies are Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) and Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL), according to the Taiwanese publication.

The sources say that production of the iTV is likely to be handled by Apple’s long time assembling partner, Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry). The product will be finalized sometime at the end of Q2 2012, the same people indicated.