14 DAY TRIAL // A 33.6 percent revenue drop recorded by Wintek in June, deemed as the largest month-over-month sales drop seen since late 2008, indicates Apple has switched panel suppliers for its next-generation iPhone.
Brian White, an analyst with Topeka Capital Markets, said the sudden drop could act as indication that Wintek is losing market share in key next-generation Apple products, according to AppleInsider.
In a note sent out to investors this week, White wrote, “Clearly, Apple has many next generation products on the horizon, and the company may be adjusting its suppliers.”
Apple is rumored to have adopted in-cell touch panels from Sharp and Toshiba Mobile. Sony is also a potential supplier.
Wintek does not offer this technology. The company only makes glass-on-glass touch solutions, just like TPK Holdings – another touch panel supplier of Apple’s. In-cell touch technology will enable Apple to reduce the thickness of its iPhones by allowing the touch layer to become part of the panel.
This is not the first time in-cell touch has been mentioned in reports discussing the potential technologies employed by Apple’s next-generation iPhone.
In May this year, Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes cited industry sources with knowledge of Apple’s short-term plans as saying that TPK Holding and Wintek were going to take a plunge in profits mainly because of newer technologies employed by Apple in its next-generation products.
People familiar with the matter estimated that the two vendors were “expected to see their shipments of touch panels for iPhones decline 15-20% sequentially in the second quarter.”
The iPhone 5 is expected to make its much-anticipated debut this fall, alongside iOS 6 – the next major version of Apple’s mobile operating system.