Second-grade 9.7-inch IPS panels, those failing to meet requirements for use to make touch screens for iPad 2, may have been procured by China-based white-box vendors for use in their 9.7-inch tablet PCs, according to industry sources in Taiwan.
LG Display and Samsung Electronics are two main suppliers of 9.7-inch IPS panels for iPad 2, the sources indicated. Since yield rates for such panels are lower than those for other types of panels, a portion of output is below Apple's standard but may not be really defective in terms of usability.
There were an estimated 7-9 million iPad 2s shipped globally in the second quarter of 2011 and the shipment volume is expected to increase to 12-14 million units in the third quarter, the sources indicated.
LG Display and Samsung together shipped an estimated 12-15 million 9.7-inch IPS panels in the second quarter, the sources pointed out. The gap between the shipments of panels and iPad 2 is expected to consist of three portions, panels unable to meet requirements, those in iPad 2 assembler's (Taiwan-based Foxconn) inventory for increased iPad shipments in the third quarter, as well as those sold to China-based white-box vendors, the sources analyzed.
China-based white-box vendor SmartDevices has launched a 9.7-inch Android 2.2 tablet PC, T10, for sale in the China market at CNY1,900 (US$293), and other white-box vendors, such as AGSO and Wanlida, have also launch 9.7-inch Android tablet PCs, the sources said.
