Tim cook must be crying into his keyboard after this Digitimes report.
What a terrible oversight - not to check whether the millions of parts he has just ordered can actually be made.
You would have thought they might have tested these things first. How embarrasing.
(Insert rolling eyes icons and sarcasm tags here)
Correct. Digitimes means that it's not actually worth reporting, except in a world where regularly reporting on the time given by a broken clock is worthwhile.
To encourage Japan Display, LG Display and Sharp to produce more in-cell touch panels, Apple has reportedly offered subsidies as high as $10 to $15 per panel
$10 to $15 per unit doesn't seem like a big leap in the manufacturing cost. Presumably the yield rates will go up over time and they will withdraw the subsidies. Tim Cook is a clever guy, I'm sure he's factored this into the manufacturing costs.
Correct. Digitimes means that it's not actually worth reporting, except in a world where regularly reporting on the time given by a broken clock is worthwhile.
The way MR keeps tabs on release dates of Apple product releases and links the articles about products with their dates, I wish AI would have something similar for rumours about upcoming products. A Rumor Roundup page that could not only list rumours about upcoming products but also list the accuracy of various sources.
So does this mean the 9/12 rumor date will be pushed back, or are we looking at back orders for the next iPhone for the remainder of 2012? I hope not I was looking forward to getting one on launch day.
$10 to $15 per unit doesn't seem like a big leap in the manufacturing cost. Presumably the yield rates will go up over time and they will withdraw the subsidies. Tim Cook is a clever guy, I'm sure he's factored this into the manufacturing costs.
Withdrawing subsidies is hard. Paying up front for initial yield is how Apple works. Apple typically works with a 'we will pay up front with cash for XX units delivered over YY months, with an option to increase to ZZ units the during those YY months' with negative inducements (you can't hit those numbers, then you owe us...). This blocks any other OEM from buying those ZZ units if capacity increases.
Like [B]Geoff[/B] says above (#8) it's probably about image quality in the screen, not extra space for the battery. Apple will do anything for image quality, it seems. And the "phone" part may turn out to be less important than the camera and screen part.
Keeping the edges squared off is part of that function. You don't want the edges rounded off like an old wet bar of soap. Too dangerous to handle such a wimped-out shape.
I really don't like the feel of the 4/4S though, my wife has my old 3GS and it's a much better design in that respect. You could argue the current brick design works better as a camera, but it isn't a camera, it's a phone.
Phones need to be slim, aesthetically pleasing, comfortable to hold (i.e. rounded corners) and should fit in your pocket.
Apple have been disappointing me recently with all these minor incremental updates. I want to see another technological breakthrough from them, like we used to get back in the good old days.
In fact, in reality, it's a computer with a mobile data plan and happens to have a phone app, a music player app, and a bunch of other apps, and it works well as a camera, so well you're not going to need a pocket camera. Apple: http://www.apple.com/iphone/built-in-apps/camera.html
Phones need to make calls. You're trying describing a mobile phone, and you're missing most of the critical functions (good sound, battery life, good antenna, easy to use for phone like functions... conference calls, speakerphone, etc). You basically said, "something shiny and small"
Rounded edges and corners on a slim phone make it harder to take out of pocket. If you can't get it out of your pocket and answer a call, then it's hardly a useful phone. You'll say 'not me' and I'll say, you're probably not over 50 or arthritic, or have the hands of a petite youth, or the hands of a 6'8' 300lb person, or a person who has mittens on (I live in snow 5 months out of the year). When you sell a 1 phone a year to 'everyone' there are some design decisions for the the masses most people ('market of one') can't grok.
BTW, can you explain what you mean by technological breakthrough, when your entire complaint is about rounded edges? It doesn't follow.
Rounded edges and corners on a slim phone make it harder to take out of pocket.
I think the opposite is true. The square iPhone can sometimes get "stuck" when you try to whip it out of your pocket because an edge catches the fabric. a slim rounded phone probably wouldn't have that problem
If the yield rates are an issue it would be something that would be overcome in time, the question we ask next is how constrained will the next iPhone be at launch, will it impact international launches while the US gets it first (kind of nice getting the new toy at launch unlike the other phone makers).
If the yield rates are an issue it would be something that would be overcome in time, the question we ask next is how constrained will the next iPhone be at launch, will it impact international launches while the US gets it first (kind of nice getting the new toy at launch unlike the other phone makers).
I doubt that Apple would allow supply to be seriously constrained. Since it's hardly a new product line Apple has dependable data on expected demand, and quite some time to plan for it. They aren't so disorganized that they would allow touchscreens to limit supply. Not on Tim Cook's watch. This seems more like a "get 'em while they're hot" build-up.
If the yield rates are an issue it would be something that would be overcome in time, the question we ask next is how constrained will the next iPhone be at launch, will it impact international launches while the US gets it first (kind of nice getting the new toy at launch unlike the other phone makers).
I doubt that Apple would allow supply to be seriously constrained. Since it's hardly a new product line Apple has dependable data on expected demand, and quite some time to plan for it. They aren't so disorganized that they would allow touchscreens to limit supply. Not on Tim Cook's watch. This seems more like a "get 'em while they're hot" build-up.
Sometimes things crop up and you just have to deal with it as best you can. if there are less supply than an assumed demand there are tactics they can take to deal with it.
One is simply delaying the launch a bit so they can stock pile more components. However, that can be short lived as greater demand than available supply will catch up to you if you can't get ahead of it. They can gain some traction by releasing in less markets (read: countries) out of the gate. In recent years Apple has been so far ahead that they've released in an impressive number of countries right away. The iPhone 4S was released in 7 countries in early October and 22 more a couple weeks later.
Another solution relieving some pressure on one product by introducing another. If they can introduce a low-cost tablet they will certainly lose some customers who can only afford one or the other at a given time, or simply don't see a need for both at the same time. This would likely reduce some of the strain on a product that is harder to produce even if this other produce isn't the cash cow as the other. The reason they'd do this is 'a' sale is better than no sale.
Notice how Samsung is not a supplier. If this is really a problem they can just pay a bit more for the first batch until the production line improves and the yield gets better.
Samsung do not have in-cell-touch technology of this type. They have on-cell-touch which reduces the thickness a little and is used on their SAMOLED+ screens but it is one stage back from this in technical terms
Sometimes things crop up and you just have to deal with it as best you can.
Not buying it in this case Soli. There's no way Apple didn't already have solid proof of the yields before committing to this change in display technology for their flagship device and biggest profit center. Heads would roll at Apple. Either there's no in-cell display slated for the next iPhone or there's no supply constraints IMHO. One or the other. The story is bogus as far as I'm concerned. As for who the source of it is, who knows.
Not buying it in this case Soli. There's no way Apple didn't already have solid proof of the yields before committing to this change in display technology for their flagship device and biggest profit center. Heads would roll at Apple. Either there's no in-cell display slated for the next iPhone or there's no supply constraints IMHO. One or the other. The story is bogus as far as I'm concerned. As for who the source of it is, who knows.
The MobileMe teams thought they had everything under control. Apple was sure using the old dB scale for a new antenna design would be fine. There has never been features touted for a future release of Mac OS that have been quietly removed before it ships. And those are internal issues that don't require any outside contracts.
If you think that Apple doesn't have any of the same issues that plague every other company in the world they are just a sugar-free Kool-Aid drinker looking for any excuse to show that Apple will fail. The bottom line is that Apple has consistently shown they are better but they are still at the mercy of the dozens upon dozens of companies they do business with to keep their end of the deal. If you've ever engineered anything you'd know that small scale doesn't always scale well or there are unforeseen issues regardless of how much you plan ahead for every issue. The best you can do is plan for contingencies and work around them. What I stated previously are common ways in which those can and are handled.
The MobileMe teams thought they had everything under control. Apple was sure using the old dB scale for a new antenna design would be fine. There has never been features touted for a future release of Mac OS that have been quietly removed before it ships. And those are internal issues that don't require any outside contracts.
If you think that Apple doesn't have any of the same issues that plague every other company in the world they are just a sugar-free Kool-Aid drinker looking for any excuse to show that Apple will fail. The bottom line is that Apple has consistently shown they are better but they are still at the mercy of the dozens upon dozens of companies they do business with to keep their end of the deal. If you've ever engineered anything you'd know that small scale doesn't always scale well or there are unforeseen issues regardless of how much you plan ahead for every issue. The best you can do is plan for contingencies and work around them. What I stated previously are common ways in which those can and are handled.
Curious then...
Do you think Apple would be leaking a Sept.12th event and unveiling if there was any potential supply issue?
Curious then...
Do you think Apple would be leaking a Sept.12th event and unveiling if there was any potential supply issue?
1) That date is still just a rumour.
2) Even if that date is accurate my previous comments, which you discounted out of hand, explain how a company can move forward even if supplies are constrained.
2) Even if that date is accurate my previous comments, which you discounted out of hand, explain how a company can move forward even if supplies are constrained.
I wasn't intending to dismiss your examples of ways companies can deal with unexpected shortages, so my apology if you thought that. Your post was certainly valid...
just not applicable to Apple and the upcoming iPhone in at least this specific instance IMO.
Comments
Correct. Digitimes means that it's not actually worth reporting, except in a world where regularly reporting on the time given by a broken clock is worthwhile.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
To encourage Japan Display, LG Display and Sharp to produce more in-cell touch panels, Apple has reportedly offered subsidies as high as $10 to $15 per panel
$10 to $15 per unit doesn't seem like a big leap in the manufacturing cost. Presumably the yield rates will go up over time and they will withdraw the subsidies. Tim Cook is a clever guy, I'm sure he's factored this into the manufacturing costs.
The way MR keeps tabs on release dates of Apple product releases and links the articles about products with their dates, I wish AI would have something similar for rumours about upcoming products. A Rumor Roundup page that could not only list rumours about upcoming products but also list the accuracy of various sources.
So does this mean the 9/12 rumor date will be pushed back, or are we looking at back orders for the next iPhone for the remainder of 2012? I hope not I was looking forward to getting one on launch day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
Did you graduate form LOL Cat University?
yezz i haz hadz a mazterx
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaun, UK
$10 to $15 per unit doesn't seem like a big leap in the manufacturing cost. Presumably the yield rates will go up over time and they will withdraw the subsidies. Tim Cook is a clever guy, I'm sure he's factored this into the manufacturing costs.
Withdrawing subsidies is hard. Paying up front for initial yield is how Apple works. Apple typically works with a 'we will pay up front with cash for XX units delivered over YY months, with an option to increase to ZZ units the during those YY months' with negative inducements (you can't hit those numbers, then you owe us...). This blocks any other OEM from buying those ZZ units if capacity increases.
But to me.. is not based in any facts.
Keeping the edges squared off is part of that function. You don't want the edges rounded off like an old wet bar of soap. Too dangerous to handle such a wimped-out shape.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Downpour
#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
I really don't like the feel of the 4/4S though, my wife has my old 3GS and it's a much better design in that respect. You could argue the current brick design works better as a camera, but it isn't a camera, it's a phone.
Phones need to be slim, aesthetically pleasing, comfortable to hold (i.e. rounded corners) and should fit in your pocket.
Apple have been disappointing me recently with all these minor incremental updates. I want to see another technological breakthrough from them, like we used to get back in the good old days.
#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
In fact, in reality, it's a computer with a mobile data plan and happens to have a phone app, a music player app, and a bunch of other apps, and it works well as a camera, so well you're not going to need a pocket camera. Apple: http://www.apple.com/iphone/built-in-apps/camera.html
Phones need to make calls. You're trying describing a mobile phone, and you're missing most of the critical functions (good sound, battery life, good antenna, easy to use for phone like functions... conference calls, speakerphone, etc). You basically said, "something shiny and small"
Rounded edges and corners on a slim phone make it harder to take out of pocket. If you can't get it out of your pocket and answer a call, then it's hardly a useful phone. You'll say 'not me' and I'll say, you're probably not over 50 or arthritic, or have the hands of a petite youth, or the hands of a 6'8' 300lb person, or a person who has mittens on (I live in snow 5 months out of the year). When you sell a 1 phone a year to 'everyone' there are some design decisions for the the masses most people ('market of one') can't grok.
BTW, can you explain what you mean by technological breakthrough, when your entire complaint is about rounded edges? It doesn't follow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheOtherGeoff
Rounded edges and corners on a slim phone make it harder to take out of pocket.
I think the opposite is true. The square iPhone can sometimes get "stuck" when you try to whip it out of your pocket because an edge catches the fabric. a slim rounded phone probably wouldn't have that problem
If the yield rates are an issue it would be something that would be overcome in time, the question we ask next is how constrained will the next iPhone be at launch, will it impact international launches while the US gets it first (kind of nice getting the new toy at launch unlike the other phone makers).
Quote:
Originally Posted by RaptorOO7
If the yield rates are an issue it would be something that would be overcome in time, the question we ask next is how constrained will the next iPhone be at launch, will it impact international launches while the US gets it first (kind of nice getting the new toy at launch unlike the other phone makers).
I doubt that Apple would allow supply to be seriously constrained. Since it's hardly a new product line Apple has dependable data on expected demand, and quite some time to plan for it. They aren't so disorganized that they would allow touchscreens to limit supply. Not on Tim Cook's watch. This seems more like a "get 'em while they're hot" build-up.
Sometimes things crop up and you just have to deal with it as best you can. if there are less supply than an assumed demand there are tactics they can take to deal with it.
One is simply delaying the launch a bit so they can stock pile more components. However, that can be short lived as greater demand than available supply will catch up to you if you can't get ahead of it. They can gain some traction by releasing in less markets (read: countries) out of the gate. In recent years Apple has been so far ahead that they've released in an impressive number of countries right away. The iPhone 4S was released in 7 countries in early October and 22 more a couple weeks later.
Another solution relieving some pressure on one product by introducing another. If they can introduce a low-cost tablet they will certainly lose some customers who can only afford one or the other at a given time, or simply don't see a need for both at the same time. This would likely reduce some of the strain on a product that is harder to produce even if this other produce isn't the cash cow as the other. The reason they'd do this is 'a' sale is better than no sale.
The low supply could prove quite useful for Apple.
I still haven't seen any AMOLED display that comes close in quality to the IPS displays Apple uses.
Quote:
Originally Posted by herbapou
Notice how Samsung is not a supplier. If this is really a problem they can just pay a bit more for the first batch until the production line improves and the yield gets better.
Samsung do not have in-cell-touch technology of this type. They have on-cell-touch which reduces the thickness a little and is used on their SAMOLED+ screens but it is one stage back from this in technical terms
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
Sometimes things crop up and you just have to deal with it as best you can.
Not buying it in this case Soli. There's no way Apple didn't already have solid proof of the yields before committing to this change in display technology for their flagship device and biggest profit center. Heads would roll at Apple. Either there's no in-cell display slated for the next iPhone or there's no supply constraints IMHO. One or the other. The story is bogus as far as I'm concerned. As for who the source of it is, who knows.
The MobileMe teams thought they had everything under control. Apple was sure using the old dB scale for a new antenna design would be fine. There has never been features touted for a future release of Mac OS that have been quietly removed before it ships. And those are internal issues that don't require any outside contracts.
If you think that Apple doesn't have any of the same issues that plague every other company in the world they are just a sugar-free Kool-Aid drinker looking for any excuse to show that Apple will fail. The bottom line is that Apple has consistently shown they are better but they are still at the mercy of the dozens upon dozens of companies they do business with to keep their end of the deal. If you've ever engineered anything you'd know that small scale doesn't always scale well or there are unforeseen issues regardless of how much you plan ahead for every issue. The best you can do is plan for contingencies and work around them. What I stated previously are common ways in which those can and are handled.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
The MobileMe teams thought they had everything under control. Apple was sure using the old dB scale for a new antenna design would be fine. There has never been features touted for a future release of Mac OS that have been quietly removed before it ships. And those are internal issues that don't require any outside contracts.
If you think that Apple doesn't have any of the same issues that plague every other company in the world they are just a sugar-free Kool-Aid drinker looking for any excuse to show that Apple will fail. The bottom line is that Apple has consistently shown they are better but they are still at the mercy of the dozens upon dozens of companies they do business with to keep their end of the deal. If you've ever engineered anything you'd know that small scale doesn't always scale well or there are unforeseen issues regardless of how much you plan ahead for every issue. The best you can do is plan for contingencies and work around them. What I stated previously are common ways in which those can and are handled.
Curious then...
Do you think Apple would be leaking a Sept.12th event and unveiling if there was any potential supply issue?
1) That date is still just a rumour.
2) Even if that date is accurate my previous comments, which you discounted out of hand, explain how a company can move forward even if supplies are constrained.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
1) That date is still just a rumour.
2) Even if that date is accurate my previous comments, which you discounted out of hand, explain how a company can move forward even if supplies are constrained.
I wasn't intending to dismiss your examples of ways companies can deal with unexpected shortages, so my apology if you thought that. Your post was certainly valid...
just not applicable to Apple and the upcoming iPhone in at least this specific instance IMO.