Rumor: 'iWatch' production hits snags, will not begin until Q4 2014
Executives at longtime Apple supplier TPK -- thought to have been selected by the iPhone maker to manufacture touch modules for the so-called "iWatch" -- are said to have revised earlier forecasts for a profit uptick in the third quarter, pushing the expected surge back by three months in what is seen as an indication that Apple's wearable is suffering from delays.
The change was announced at a corporate conference in TPK's home country of Taiwan, according to Taiwanese newspaper UDN. The report was first noted by GforGames.
TPK has long been a primary supplier of touch components for Apple's iPhone and iPad lines, with rumors that Apple would again turn to the Taipei firm for the iWatch first appearing in February. TPK subsidiary TPK Films -- a joint venture between TPK, Japan's Nissha Printing, and Silicon Valley firm Cambrios -- was said to have been chosen to produce touch modules based on silver nanowires using a special ink made by Cambrios.
Silver nanowire touch modules can be flexible and require no additional sensors to register touches, allowing the overall package to be smaller. TPK Films is one of only a handful of manufacturers with the capability to produce such parts.
If true, it would be the latest in what appears to be a series of delays suffered by Apple's hotly-anticipated wearable device. The report does square with an earlier missive from well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who suggested that production would be pushed to November.
iWatch concept by Todd Hamilton
The change was announced at a corporate conference in TPK's home country of Taiwan, according to Taiwanese newspaper UDN. The report was first noted by GforGames.
TPK has long been a primary supplier of touch components for Apple's iPhone and iPad lines, with rumors that Apple would again turn to the Taipei firm for the iWatch first appearing in February. TPK subsidiary TPK Films -- a joint venture between TPK, Japan's Nissha Printing, and Silicon Valley firm Cambrios -- was said to have been chosen to produce touch modules based on silver nanowires using a special ink made by Cambrios.
Silver nanowire touch modules can be flexible and require no additional sensors to register touches, allowing the overall package to be smaller. TPK Films is one of only a handful of manufacturers with the capability to produce such parts.
If true, it would be the latest in what appears to be a series of delays suffered by Apple's hotly-anticipated wearable device. The report does square with an earlier missive from well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who suggested that production would be pushed to November.
Comments
What if the pushback has more to do with payments from Apple and accounting, not directly related to the actual delivery of parts?
What if the pushback was not for an Apple product?
What if the pushback has more to do with payments from Apple and accounting, not directly related to the actual delivery of parts?
What if the pushback was not for an Apple product?
Why would Apple have a problem with a vendor payment? They have oodles of cash, so much so that they can go on a tremendous stock buyback spree without blinking an eye.
Also, Apple's credit rating is superb. They recently added some debt, but it is at a ridiculously low interest rate. Sometimes using someone else's money is cheaper than using your own cash.
Next, the current federal administration recently announced that Apple was part of a select group of major companies who vowed to pay smaller vendors quickly, in an effort to keep business healthy for these smaller companies who have less wiggle room for cash shortages.
It is entirely possible that the pushback is for a non-Apple product. Without a doubt, TPK is not a liberty to reveal who their customers are, but given TPK's long history as an Apple component supplier, there is a reasonable chance that such an earnings delay could be the result of a major customer such as Apple.
Sigh. It's going to be a long summer. Do rumor sites have to report every time some Asian news source translated by some no-name American tech site reports on a rumored delay of a rumored product?
Page views are page views. That's all tech rumor blogs care about.
Plausability and accuracy are irrelevant in places such as this. If you want the news, try sticking with old school sources like the Wall Street Journal.
Just from the first paragraph...
... thought to have been selected...
... so-called "iWatch"...
... seen as an indication...
DED likes to hold IDC and Gartner accountable for their reporting accuracy. Will he ever do the same for AI?
I like the chats with smart folks here but for content I'd rather read DED and PED.
What I dislike more than these rumours of an announced product rumour being pushed back is AI always using the same crappy mockup images.
Well then, please provide locations where better imagery can be found.
After all, it's just a rumor.
Besides, if any conceptual designer had a good idea about what an Apple smartphone would look like, they might actually be working in product design at some consumer electronics firm, rather than blogging Photoshopped images.
To be fair it is a rumor site.
Here you go ...
^ Okay were thinking Crystal ball and I was thinking reading Tea leaves of the supply chain again.
Go to google images and type in iWatch.
Go to google images and type in iWatch.
Perfect. Now forward your comment to the site operator.
DED likes to hold IDC and Gartner accountable for their reporting accuracy. Will he ever do the same for AI?
Maybe if he leaves AI to write for another site. But you'd never read it here...