When Apple unveiled the iPhone 4 earlier this month, one of the features most touted was the device's Retina Display screen. The screen, which uses in-plane switching (IPS) technology is also used with Apple's iPad tablet, and is also made by LG Display.
According to Ashok Kumar, managing director and senior technology analyst at Rodman & Renshaw, supply issues might become a problem for the new iPhone over the coming months. "Low yields on the IPS LCD panel from LG Display have dramatically impacted the production volumes for iPhone 4," Kumar wrote in his research note.
"Our supply chain checks indicate that our earlier monthly shipment estimate of 4 million units have been reset by about half." He said that demand is likely to be chasing supply through September. That is not good news when analysts also anticipate strong demand for the iPhone 4, as users of the older first generation iPhone to iPhone 3GS may opt to upgrade to get full feature support from iOS 4.
"The hope is that the LG transition to Gen 5 LCD capacity by late summer could help alleviate the production bottleneck. Meanwhile there is a non trivial risk in the September quarter whereby demand for the legacy 3GS iPhone drops off faster than production can ramp up for the iPhone 4," Kumar's note concluded.
"Our supply chain checks indicate that our earlier monthly shipment estimate of 4 million units have been reset by about half." He said that demand is likely to be chasing supply through September. That is not good news when analysts also anticipate strong demand for the iPhone 4, as users of the older first generation iPhone to iPhone 3GS may opt to upgrade to get full feature support from iOS 4.
"The hope is that the LG transition to Gen 5 LCD capacity by late summer could help alleviate the production bottleneck. Meanwhile there is a non trivial risk in the September quarter whereby demand for the legacy 3GS iPhone drops off faster than production can ramp up for the iPhone 4," Kumar's note concluded.
