14 DAY TRIAL // A report from Korea indicates that Apple is having a lot of trouble getting iPad mini 2 into customers’ hands, as its suppliers are messing up the displays.
Sharp, LG, and other panel makers in Apple's supply chain are faced with having to produce an incredibly-crisp Retina display for this new iPad, and they’re falling behind with the numbers.
Apple has not only ordered a specific number of displays to be produced (which runs in the millions), but has also imposed a quality standard which these companies (Sharp in particular) can’t achieve.
“According to the industry on November 7, Apple is delaying its launch because it could not solve the burn-in problem in the LCD panel, to be applied to the iPad mini retina product, which is caused by the malfunction of the TFT,” according to Korea IT News report.
The burn-in is not immediately visible, but it’s there, the report indicates. The paper adds that Apple may compromise on technological standards to get the show on the road.
However, a technology analyst cited in the report said, “If Apple relaxes the technological standards for the burn-in, consumers’ perception of Apple may deteriorate.”
The Cupertino giant is said to be eyeing Samsung to make these displays. Samsung was the one that bailed out Apple when it was having similar issues with the first Retina-enabled iPads, according to the paper.
The burn-in is said to be caused by the big reduction in pixel size. Apple is retaining the 2048×1536 resolution of the 10-inch Retina iPads in a smaller form factor of about eight inches on the diagonal.
The Korean report goes to mention the different technologies employed by LG Display, Sharp, and AU Optronics in producing Apple’s Retina displays, suggesting that Sharp’s IGZO tech has proved to be the least efficient.