More than 600,000 of Apple’s new iPhone 4s were sold on the first day of pre-orders earlier this week. The volume was so great that AT&T had to suspend its online sales and Apple had to delay ship dates. Now an analyst reports the company is having difficulty getting enough touchscreens to meet demand.
Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar issued a research note on Friday in which he said the shortage means Apple has had to cut by 50 percent the number of iPhones it can deliver monthly from the original estimate of four million. Kumar said his report is based on information from Apple’s supplier, LG Display Company, which he said is hoping to get up to the needed capacity by late summer.
Retina Display
Kumar noted that a similar shortage affected early shipments of the iPad, whose screens LG also makes. Both devices use a Retina display, which features a very high density of 78-micrometer-wide pixels, resulting in four times more pixels in a given area. IPS, or in-plane switching, technology in the displays enable a wider viewing angle than on regular LCDs, and the contrast ratio is four times that of previous models.
The launch of the iPad outside the U.S. was delayed by a month because of an inventory shortage. At the same time that there is too much demand and too little supply of the iPhone 4, there appears to be lessening demand for the previous model, the iPhone 3GS.
The iPhone 4 is scheduled to go on sale in stores on June 24, and the pre-orders started June 15. In-person pre-orders are being accepted at brick-and-mortar Apple and AT&T stores, Radio Shack, Best Buy, and some Wal-Marts.
“It was the largest number of pre-orders Apple has ever taken in a single day,” Apple said, adding that it… Read more
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