Supply Chain Issues for Apple (AAPL)

PUBLISHED: 31 Aug 2012 @ 13:45 | Comments (0) | More info about Ed Liston

According to a report published in the Wall Street Journal, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) could face a shortage of screens for its next iPhone. A source familiar with the latest developments told Wall Street Journal that Japan’s Sharp Corp., which supplies LCD screens used in iPhones, has not yet started the mass production. There are concerns now that supply chain issue might leave company with inadequate components for its latest offering.

Sharp, one of the leading suppliers of liquid crystal displays to Apple was supposed to start shipping of screens by the end of August; however, the company now says that mass production could not get started in time due to some “manufacturing difficulties.”

Moreover, it is still unclear when the Japanese Company would start shipping of LCDs.

Apart from Sharp, AAPL has two more suppliers of LCDs for its next iPhone: South Korea’s LG Display Company and Japan’s Japan Display Inc. Sources familiar with the situation said that both these companies have started shipping LCD’s to AAPL.

Just few months ago, Sharp was also behind the schedule in sending screens for Apple’s latest iPad; nevertheless, it didn’t affect Apple as it had enough screens for its tablet computers.

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