The iPhone 5 hasn’t even been unveiled yet and already reports are coming in about defects in
Apple’s latest smartphone. This time reports are coming in from Wintek, a Taiwan-based manufacturing company, which has reported some trouble with the iPhone 5 panels that it is producing.
According to multiple sources, Wintek is discovering a “delayed bubble” defect in some of the iPhone 5 panels produced by the company. Even though the sources haven’t said exactly what the defect does to the screens, reports are stating that it only appears after touch-panel lamination and during assembly.
It is believed that Wintek is one of the few companies developing the panels for Apple’s upcoming device, said to be unveiled at an October 4 press conference. It is reported that Wintek will be delivering 20% to 25% of all iPhone 5 touch panels while Taiwan’s TPK Holding will produce 60% to 65% of the displays.
There are currently mixed opinions about whether or not the defect will affect Wintek’s ability to meet Apple’s supply demands. Some sources say that it will hurt initial shipments of the panels though Wintek has reported that it won’t. The good news is that the iPhone 5 panel is very similar to the iPhone 4 panel so it will not take long to fix the defect.
However, the fact that Wintek is having some problems creating the device’s panel should not come as a big surprise to anybody. Over the past years, manufacturing partners have experienced difficulty in creating Apple products. This was made very clear by the inordinately long delay of the white iPhone 4.
One thing is clear, though. All this talk of production delays and defects leaves out two very important things, does this device even exist and, if so, when will it launch? Many reports are suggesting that the iPhone 5 will be unveiled at an Apple press conference on October 4 by none other than Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook.
However, Apple remains as closed as ever on the topic. Despite when it launches, though, Apple has big plans for the iPhone 5. The company plans on shipping somewhere between 25 to 26 million iPhone 5 devices in the fourth quarter of 2011. I guess we will just have to wait until October 4 rolls around.
Source: CNET – Some iPhone 5 panels have defect, report says
