iPhone 5 and iPad 3 upstream suppliers begin to prepare materials

Advertisement Posted By Yenting Chen, Taipei; Joseph Tsai, DIGITIMES Taiwan-based companies included in the supply chain for iPhone 5 and iPad 3 have begun to prepare materials for the production of the two devices, which are likely to make their debuts in September and to hit the market in October, according to industry sources. Upstream component makers including Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry), which is in charge of assembling the devices; Simplo Technologies and Dynapack International Technology, in charge of manufacturing batteries; TPK Holding and Wintek, in charge of touch panel modules; Catcher, in charge of chassis; and Largan Precision, in charge of webcams, are all expected to benefit from the orders. Currently, Simply is supplying 65% of Apple's total battery demand with Dynapack owning the other 35%. The sources pointed out that Apple only plans to launch one model of the new iPhone, while iPad 3 has just recently been added to the production schedule with both set to be produced in small volumes in August and the volume will start picking up in September and October. The sources pointed out that the iPhone 5's supply volume is estimated to be around 6-7 million units in the third quarter and with the addition of iPhone 4 shipments, total iPhone shipments in the quarter will reach 24-25 million units with volumes to maintain at the same level in the fourth quarter. In 2011, Apple is forecasted to ship over 85 million iPhones. Since Apple is also set to start supplying iPad 3 in August, the shipments of iPad series products including iPad 2 are expected to surpass 15 million units, and iPad's supply volume for 2011 will have a good chance to break 40 million units. Although most market watchers estimate that Apple's iPhone supply volume will only reach 20 million units in the third quarter and iPad's supply volume only at 11-12 million units due to the slower-than-expected progress at Foxconn's assembly line in Chengdu, China, players within Apple's upstream supply chain have all recently increased their estimated supply volumes for the second half, indicating that Apple is set to attack with another wave of new devices, before its competitors become strong, the sources noted. Apple is considering designing an even thinner and lighter tablet PC with its panel resolution increasing to 250dpi, the sources added.