Sharp’s output of new iPhone displays lagging, says source
Apple is planning a major product launch on September 12, rumoured to involve the latest iPhone model. — Reuters file picOSAKA, Aug 31 — Sharp Corp has fallen behind schedule on production of screens for Apple Inc’s latest iPhone just weeks before a planned major launch, a source told Reuters today.
The Japanese display maker is struggling with high costs that have cut into its margins on the screens, raising the question of whether Apple might provide financial incentives to speed up production, the source said.
The source, who is familiar with Sharp’s production operations, did not give an indication of how far behind the output had fallen. The source spoke on condition that he not be identified because of the sensitive nature of the disclosure.
Sharp President Takashi Okuda said on August 2 that his company would begin mass production and shipments from its Kameyama LCD plant in central Japan this month. The facility is widely known to make screens for Apple, but Sharp has declined to acknowledge that Apple is a customer.
Kameyama “is operational,” Sharp spokeswoman Miyuki Nakayama said, without giving details of either output or shipment levels.
Apple, which is also tapping other suppliers such as Japan Display and South Korea’s LG Display Co for displays, is planning a major product launch on September 12. That has raised expectations the latest iPhone model will be in stores soon.
The new iPhone screens will be thinner than previous versions with the use of so-called in-cell panels. The new technology embeds touch sensors into the liquid crystal display, eliminating the touch-screen layer found in current iPhones.
Sources earlier told Reuters that the panels will extend four inches corner to corner — 30 per cent bigger than current iPhones.
Sharp’s shares slid 13 per cent today to ¥198 as uncertainty swirled around talks with Hon Hai Precision Industry for the Taiwanese company to buy a 9.9 per cent stake in its fellow Apple supplier. — Reuters
