iPad production to expand as Apple adds new touch panel supplier

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
Apple continues to grow its output of iPads to satisfy consumer demand ahead of the coming holiday season, this time adding a new supplier of touch panel sensors for nearly a million additional parts per month.



According to DigiTimes, Taiwan-based Cando, a subsidiary of AU Optronics, will begin shipping 9.7-inch touch sensors for the iPad in September or October. The sensors will be crafted at the company's newly revamped production line.



"Overall output of the newly reformed 4.5G plant will be mainly for iPad touch sensors with a monthly capacity of almost one million units," the report said.



The new plant is said to have a capacity of 70,000 glass substrates per month. Each of those substrates can cut 16 units of touch sensors for the iPad and its 9.7-inch display.



Before the iPad launched, numerous reports indicated that various production issues led to limited availability. Touch panels, in particular, proved to be a problem, as Apple reportedly switched orders for the parts to Wintek just before the iPad U.S. debut in early April.



In July, LG Display admitted it was unable to keep up with demand for the iPad, with the company incapable of fulfilling orders for displays.



Limited supply, along with strong demand, forced Apple to delay the international launch of the iPad by one month in April. And availability in the U.S., particularly of the 3G model remained constrained for months.



But recently, iPad shipping times on Apple's website improved to 24 hours, suggesting production issues have been resolved. In addition, Apple is quickly expanding the retail presence of the iPad before the holiday shopping season.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 25
    To bad Apple cannot find a manufacturer of this item in the US where we need jobs desperately not Taiwan where their economy is pretty good. That is why we are in this bad financial condition because of exporting these jobs to other countries.Give us a chance to say MADE IN THE U.S.A.
  • Reply 2 of 25
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gerald apple View Post


    To bad Apple cannot find a manufacturer of this item in the US where we need jobs desperately not Taiwan where their economy is pretty good. That is why we are in this bad financial condition because of exporting these jobs to other countries.Give us a chance to say MADE IN THE U.S.A.



    If people like to do this job ... you open something with this opinion.
  • Reply 3 of 25
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gerald apple View Post


    To bad Apple cannot find a manufacturer of this item in the US where we need jobs desperately not Taiwan where their economy is pretty good. That is why we are in this bad financial condition because of exporting these jobs to other countries.Give us a chance to say MADE IN THE U.S.A.



    I’d be happy to pay you 15¢ an hour.
  • Reply 4 of 25
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gerald apple View Post


    To bad Apple cannot find a manufacturer of this item in the US where we need jobs desperately not Taiwan where their economy is pretty good. That is why we are in this bad financial condition because of exporting these jobs to other countries.Give us a chance to say MADE IN THE U.S.A.



    Love to see it, but if it happens you can say goodbye to the $499 price point. Imagine the iPad being manufactured by Americans in a union shop. It would be a beautiful thing but you could probably put a one in front of the $499 and nobody would buy it.



    I can only assume it's the low price point that compels people to buy a crippled device in the first place. This Sunday I sat down on the couch with my glossy iPad to watch the season opener of my favorite NFL team. I went to the official website to look at some stats and discovered it's all flash based. So another site I can add to the list that I can't see. Worthless.
  • Reply 5 of 25
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Blackintosh View Post


    Love to see it, but if it happens you can say goodbye to the $499 price point. Imagine the iPad being manufactured by Americans in a union shop. It would be a beautiful thing but you could probably put a one in front of the $499 and nobody would buy it.



    I can only assume it's the low price point that compels people to buy a crippled device in the first place. This Sunday I sat down on the couch with my glossy iPad to watch the season opener of my favorite NFL team. I went to the official website to look at some stats and discovered it's all flash based. So another site I can add to the list that I can't see. Worthless.



    Since it is worthless to you I'll pay the shipping if you would just send it to me.
  • Reply 6 of 25
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Blackintosh View Post


    Love to see it, but if it happens you can say goodbye to the $499 price point. Imagine the iPad being manufactured by Americans in a union shop. It would be a beautiful thing but you could probably put a one in front of the $499 and nobody would buy it.



    I can only assume it's the low price point that compels people to buy a crippled device in the first place. This Sunday I sat down on the couch with my glossy iPad to watch the season opener of my favorite NFL team. I went to the official website to look at some stats and discovered it's all flash based. So another site I can add to the list that I can't see. Worthless.



    I get NFL Sunday Ticket Mobile on mine and not only get all of the real time stats, I can also watch the games live right in my iPad wherever I am.
  • Reply 7 of 25
    nkhmnkhm Posts: 928member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gerald apple View Post


    To bad Apple cannot find a manufacturer of this item in the US where we need jobs desperately not Taiwan where their economy is pretty good. That is why we are in this bad financial condition because of exporting these jobs to other countries.Give us a chance to say MADE IN THE U.S.A.



    Unfortunately western manufacturers can't compete - our standard of living too high, our worker benefits and wages to large to be able to compete. This alongside a history of strike/worker action makes western manufacturers extremely unattractive to international developers.



    Not fair, not nice, but true.
  • Reply 8 of 25
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    I wish they would ramp up iPhone production. I cannot get one for love nor money 6 months after the thing was launched here. Whenever a new shipment comes in people queue up 2 hrs before opening time at the local Apple Stores.
  • Reply 9 of 25
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by paxman View Post


    I wish they would ramp up iPhone production. I cannot get one for love nor money 6 months after the thing was launched here. Whenever a new shipment comes in people queue up 2 hrs before opening time at the local Apple Stores.



    try ordering one direct. did so in the UK when it said 3 weeks and it shipped a few days later. Can't complain about that
  • Reply 10 of 25
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by diamondgeeza View Post


    try ordering one direct. did so in the UK when it said 3 weeks and it shipped a few days later. Can't complain about that



    I would except mine is an upgrade which will only cost me $159.- if I get it through my provider or through a local Apple store
  • Reply 11 of 25
    I agree with most of the above....It's my only complaint about Apple-not manufacturing in the US.



    I understand the reasoning and reasons stated above. But what the problem really is, is bankers in their thousand dollar suits getting on their knees and giving BJ's to our elected officials. In return for the bankers getting on their knees, our elected officials re-write part of the tax code or change some law for the bankers.



    Germany 'protects' its workers from rapacious corporations. They are now back to the same employment rate as before the great recession. Exports are up!



    I'm not saying America should follow exactly. But there is something there. American CEO's lay people off or ship jobs overseas at the drop of a hat to make their bottom line 'look' better and pad their own pockets. A very short-sighted approach as evidenced that 95% of businesses go out of business once the original owner has died and it's passed onto CEO's. Germany won't allow businesses just to lay people off and dump them onto the Government dole, (i.e., tax payers!) whenever they feel like it.



    Ford, IBM and Coke are exceptions to the rule. Most CEO's are in the 'business of going out of business!'



    Best.



    Chris
  • Reply 12 of 25
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alandail View Post


    I get NFL Sunday Ticket Mobile on mine and not only get all of the real time stats, I can also watch the games live right in my iPad wherever I am.



    This is awesome information. Just goes to show, it's not so 'worthless' as it was previously stated.
  • Reply 13 of 25
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alandail View Post


    I get NFL Sunday Ticket Mobile on mine and not only get all of the real time stats, I can also watch the games live right in my iPad wherever I am.



    Good tip, downloading now. I guess this is one time it's okay to be inside the garden walls.
  • Reply 14 of 25
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by paxman View Post


    I would except mine is an upgrade which will only cost me $159.- if I get it through my provider or through a local Apple store



    I got an upgrade too. My proviter has an online portal, where people can order their special iPhone offers. During the first weeks of availability, this service broke down altogether, but I managed to order mine via telephone hotline. So I am pretty sure that one of the two options should work out for you.
  • Reply 15 of 25
    I wonder if Apple's huge demand for iPad components, combined with underinvestment in manufacturing capacity due to the recession, is going to make it even harder for competitors to bring tablets to market in any kind of volume. Unless perhaps they choose to bring tablets to market that have substantially different (perhaps inferior -- TN displays?) components.



    Regarding USA manufacturing... I think this will eventually make economic sense as trade imbalances between the US and China must ultimately be dealt with. In fact, I seem to remember reading somewhere that Foxconn is contemplating manufacturing in Texas -- or did I just imagine that?
  • Reply 16 of 25
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nkhm View Post


    Unfortunately western manufacturers can't compete - our standard of living too high, our worker benefits and wages to large to be able to compete. This alongside a history of strike/worker action makes western manufacturers extremely unattractive to international developers.



    Not fair, not nice, but true.



    Don't drink the Reagan/Republican kool-aid. They TELL you it's those Communist Unions that keep the factories away, but it's MUCH more a matter of TAX policy (who passed laws to let those corporations move their factories overseas, where they don't pay taxes?) and currency exchange rates (who lets China and other countries keep the value of their currency relative to the U.S. dollar WAY too competitive?). Follow the money to the party of the rich.



    Someone else here pointed out that Germany can compete and they have average wages MUCH higher than comparable factories here, as well as 6 to 8 weeks of vacation per year. How is that possible if OUR costs are too high?
  • Reply 17 of 25
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wittsend View Post


    Don't drink the Reagan/Republican kool-aid. They TELL you it's those Communist Unions that keep the factories away,



    Excuse me but who is drinking the kool-aid here? Unions are keeping factories away, low wages are atyracting them to other countries. Businessman realize that some industries wouldn't even survive without unions. On the flip side you can't even question the fact that the UAW has ruined the auto industry in this country.

    Quote:

    but it's MUCH more a matter of TAX policy (who passed laws to let those corporations move their factories overseas, where they don't pay taxes?) and currency exchange rates (who lets China and other countries keep the value of their currency relative to the U.S. dollar WAY too competitive?).



    For your information the exchange rate with China is Chinas policy. You are welcome to try to change it if you want.

    Quote:

    Follow the money to the party of the rich.



    Dreams from members of the party of the poor, lazy and shiftless! Personally I'd rather align myself with people that make things better rather than the left that wants to regress back to the dark ages.

    Quote:

    Someone else here pointed out that Germany can compete and they have average wages MUCH higher than comparable factories here, as well as 6 to 8 weeks of vacation per year. How is that possible if OUR costs are too high?



    Germany can't compete with China, that is pretty obvious. Rather they engaged in protectionism. Worst many companies are in effect welfare ooerations because of the high number of unproductive workers employeed.



    Seriously you are not intouch with the state of europes economy. Things are so rosey here either, a lot of that due to people living beyound their means and governments that do the same. In the end we are paying dearly for past economic sins, many of which come directly from the entitlement mentality you exhibit.
  • Reply 18 of 25
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post


    Excuse me but who is drinking the kool-aid here? Unions are keeping factories away, low wages are atyracting them to other countries. Businessman realize that some industries wouldn't even survive without unions. On the flip side you can't even question the fact that the UAW has ruined the auto industry in this country.



    For your information the exchange rate with China is Chinas policy. You are welcome to try to change it if you want.



    Dreams from members of the party of the poor, lazy and shiftless! Personally I'd rather align myself with people that make things better rather than the left that wants to regress back to the dark ages.



    Germany can't compete with China, that is pretty obvious. Rather they engaged in protectionism. Worst many companies are in effect welfare ooerations because of the high number of unproductive workers employeed.



    Seriously you are not intouch with the state of europes economy. Things are so rosey here either, a lot of that due to people living beyound their means and governments that do the same. In the end we are paying dearly for past economic sins, many of which come directly from the entitlement mentality you exhibit.



    Somehow unions led to the highest standard of living for most Americans ever in the 50's and the 60's, but since the Corporate plutocrats managed to "break the unions" with the last 30 years of propaganda (as part of the Reagan revolution) the power has swung the other way. The Auto industry ruined themselves from top to bottom. Putting all the blame on the UAW is viewing history with blinders on.



    If you think that there has not been considerable political pressure to ALLOW China to maintain their monetary policy, then you don't understand anything about market forces. That imbalance can only be maintained by the application of a large amount of political force. Follow the money.



    "Regress". Do you even know the definition of "conservative"? It means prevent change, because of the FEAR of change and is usually due to the propagation of ignorance and the blind faith in conservative leaders who know how to manipulate fear and stoke that fear with bigotry and religious hatred. I don't see how anyone but the top 1% benefitted from the last 10 years of republican malfeasance. Follow the money.



    Except Germany IS competing with China, very successfully. Their economy is in much better shape than ours and growing faster. You probably think that Germany = Greece. So sad. If you think China does not "engage in protectionism" (not just the aforementioned monetary policy) then you are hopelessly ignorant of the situation. They say WHO gets to build factories and HOW and guess what? They're all Chinese and wages are strictly controlled with no unions! It's a republican paradise!



    "People living beyond their means"? Oh, you mean the middle class of this country trying to stay afloat as their wages stay flat for the last 30 years, at the same time that the greatest transfer of wealth in history went to the top 1%. Yea, the only other time that even came close to that was in the 1920's. What happened THAT time? Something about a Great Depression. Hmm, that didn't work back then either. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. But you just keep swallowing that pablum that the rich people and corporations keep feeding you. I'm sure if that top 1% gets up to owning 90% of the wealth, the rest of us will be MUCH better off.
  • Reply 19 of 25
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Blackintosh View Post


    Good tip, downloading now. I guess this is one time it's okay to be inside the garden walls.



    Or, presuming you have a wireless router in your home, hook up EyeTV to your iMac or MB and download the EyeTV app to your iPad.
  • Reply 20 of 25
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Blastdoor View Post


    I wonder if Apple's huge demand for iPad components, combined with underinvestment in manufacturing capacity due to the recession, is going to make it even harder for competitors to bring tablets to market in any kind of volume. Unless perhaps they choose to bring tablets to market that have substantially different (perhaps inferior -- TN displays?) components.



    Regarding USA manufacturing... I think this will eventually make economic sense as trade imbalances between the US and China must ultimately be dealt with. In fact, I seem to remember reading somewhere that Foxconn is contemplating manufacturing in Texas -- or did I just imagine that?



    You make an interesting point. I suspect that some of Apple's problem with obtaining sufficient manufacturing capacity for both the iPhone and the iPad is due to the recession and under-investment in manufacturing worldwide. Apple has as much clout as any company. It isn't going to be easy for competitors to grab their share of limited materials and assembly capacity.



    Yes, I read something about Foxconn looking at building a factory in Texas, but it's far too soon to see it as any kind of trend.
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