As for Apple, per supply chain chatter relayed by DigiTimes this morning, component suppliers have begun shipping parts for iPad 3 assembly in January 2012 by Foxconn Electronics, Apple’s long-standing contract manufacturer:
TPK Holding and Wintek are set to ship up to a million touch modules per month beginning mid-November, the publication reports. This story is a follow-up to DigiTimes’ Wednesday report claiming Samsung and Sharp have begun shipping iPad 3 displays. Note that Apple might have begun winding down iPad 2 manufacturing.
The Korea Times also reported that LG Display is in talks with Apple involving 7.35-inch displays for a smaller iPad and today’s DigiTimes report confirms this by saying Apple is “reportedly developing a new panel in 7.85-inch size”. Sources are claiming that AU Optronics and LG Display have already delivered samples of this display to Apple for verification.
Tablets aren’t just a fad, mind you. That being said, the space is apparently so hot and getting so crowded than some branded vendors are believed to be giving up on tablets. If DigiTimes is to be trusted, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Acer and Asustek will “gradually phase out” of the tablet market in 2012.
