New iPad Mini Again Rumored to be in Short Supply

During its big iPad announcement event last week, Apple unveiled its latest version of the iPad Mini. Though the tablet’s hardware has remained much the same, the Mini did get one bit upgrade &#...
New iPad Mini Again Rumored to be in Short Supply
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  • During its big iPad announcement event last week, Apple unveiled its latest version of the iPad Mini. Though the tablet’s hardware has remained much the same, the Mini did get one bit upgrade – its screen. The 7.9-inch display on the new iPad Mini has been upgraded to a 2048 x 1536 Retina display. Though the addition will be a welcome one for Apple fans, it may also be that this new feature is severely limiting the number of the devices Apple is able to manufacture for the holiday quarter.

    A new DigiTimes report today stated that the new iPad Mini will be in short supply in the coming months. The report’s unnamed “sources with Taiwan’s supply chain” are placing the blame for the tablet’s rarity squarely on Sharp. The manufacturer is reportedly having trouble with the new display’s Oxide TFT manufacturing process and is seeing very low yields.

    This new report comes just days after a market research firm also predicted low shipment numbers for the iPad Mini. That report also blamed the shortage on manufacturing problems surrounding the Retina display.

    Though the report about Sharp is concerning, it does not mean that dedicated Apple fans won’t be able to get the new mini-tablet this holiday season. According to DigiTimes, Sharp makes up only 40% of Apple’s Retina display orders for the iPad Mini. The other 60% are coming from LG Display, which hasn’t been rumored to be having any trouble producing the displays.

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