iPad 3 Touch Panels to Hit Apple’s Supply Chain - Report

Apple has begun scaling back iPad 2 display inventories, a move that will impact shipments from suppliers Samsung Electronics, LG Display and Chimei Innolux, Taiwan sources are reporting. And iPad 3 panels are now being prepared for shipping, the same people say.

A Taiwanese trade publication known for its mixed track record of providing inside information from Apple and its suppliers is reporting that Cupertino has been controlling iPad 2 screen inventories, resulting in shipment shifts among the three aforementioned suppliers.

The report cites data released by Apple to outline that iPad sales in the ‘end market’ totaled 11.12 million units in the third quarter of this year.

Yet the number of parts and components waiting for the Cupertino computer giant in the supply chain (for the respective quarter) are more than enough to produce a few more million units still, said the sources.

Apple can reach production levels of 15-16 million iPads, which means there is a stockpile of 4-5 million units of iPad 2 units in the supply chain, according to their calculations.

Apple’s decision to start adjusting the inventory caused LG Display’s shipments of 9.7-inch panels to decline from three million units to 2.5 million units in the September-October period.

Samsung saw little to no disruption its its shipments (two million units in October), whereas CMI was also forced to reduce its own shipments from 700,000 units to 350,000 units.

There’s more. Samsung and Sharp are reportedly shipping iPad 3 panels already.

The first units started shipping in October, Digitimes’ industry sources noted, adding that Taiwan-based touch panel makers TPK Holding and Wintek will ship their own products (touch panels) for “the next-generation iPads” to the supply chain in the November-December timeframe.

The sources fail to mention the size of the touch panels in question, as rumors about a 7-inch iPad mini continue to swirl.