Another reports claims a delay in the availability of the iPhone 8
Another reports claims a delay in the availability of the iPhone 8
Apple's 10th anniversary iPhone may arrive later than many would have expected.
Joining the growing list of publications with similiar claims is Nikkei Asian Review, which claims to have information from people familiar with Apple. Citing a supply chain source and an analyst, Nikkei states that Samsung is having difficulties delivering what Apple wants although it is unclear what difficulties they are.
"There might be a one to two month delay in Samsung's production of OLED panels for Apple," said Brian Huh, an analyst at research company IHS Markit. "Samsung originally plans to begin churning out OLED panels in May but now the schedule will likely be pushed back to the end of June or sometime in July."
It has been rumored that Apple inked massive deals with Samsung to supply OLED panels for the iPhone. These deals, which are estimated to be worth billions of dollars, would see Samsung supplying as many as 160 million OLED panels to Apple.
There are reportedly other obstacles such as overheating issues in the wireless charging modules, malfunctioning wireless charging boards, printed circuit boards and low yield rates of certain components. However, there is still time for Apple and component suppliers to resolve these issues and produce sufficient quantities to meet shipment schedules. The supply pf memory chips for the new iPhones has already begun with small quantities being shipped from an unknown company.
"The placement of orders is much more aggressive than the previous two years but not as high the year when they rolled out iPhone 6 in 2014," the executive said. "The demand from this year's iPhone looks healthy but the memory chip suppliers are a bit concerned whether the upcoming iPhone's migration to advanced 3D NAND flash memory chips would be smooth enough to avoid tight supply or a shipment delay."
Apple is widely believed to be releasing three iPhone models this year. They are said to be the iPhone 7s, iPhone 7s Plus and the iPhone 8 which is also known as the iPhone Edition. The iPhone 8 is the only model which will sport the OLED display.
Source: Nikkei Asian Review via 9to5Mac