roundup-ipadmini A day after Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that it is unclear as to whether Apple will have enough supply of the Retina iPad mini to meet market demand, Digitimes is reporting that Japanese manufacturer Sharp is tied to the shortage, citing low yield rates of displays from the company.

Multiple sources have suggested that the Retina iPad mini will be in limited supply throughout 2013, which has been all but confirmed by Apple's nebulous November release date. According to a report from last week, following its November debut, Retina iPad mini supplies could be "ridiculously tight" until 2014.

However, while supplies of the Retina iPad mini will be constrained, supplies of the iPad Air are expected to be more plentiful, as the company will offer same day in-store pickup for orders of the new full-sized tablet. As noted by Apple during the introduction of the second-generation iPad mini, a Retina display has been one of the most requested features for the smaller iPad since its release last year.

Related Roundup: iPad mini
Buyer's Guide: iPad Mini (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iPad

Top Rated Comments

Casiotone Avatar
149 months ago
this is ridiculous,

suppliers usually know quite a long time in advance that they will have to manufacture upcoming products

how can they be short on stock ?


and considering how long they have been working with Apple already, how could this happen ?


i believe it's simply an excuse made up by Apple just to force people buying the more expensive iPad Air during iPad mini retina shortage
Do you think that new technology appears out of thin air?

Of course Apple has been trying all year long to get these screens mass produced.

Can you find a mass-produced tablet with a screen bigger than 7" that has 326dpi or more? (the 9.7" iPad air has 264dpi)

The 7.9" retina screen on the mini is 35% bigger than the 2013 Nexus 7 screen (at the same dpi), which makes a big difference in terms of LCD manufacturing reducing yields by an exponential amount.

And the funny thing is that what we consider a "shortage" for the retina mini probably means "only" a few million units, which will be probably more than the Nexus 7 production for the holidays even though the retina mini is much harder to produce.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Gasu E. Avatar
149 months ago
this is ridiculous,

suppliers usually know quite a long time in advance that they will have to manufacture upcoming products
how can they be short on stock ?
and considering how long they have been working with Apple already, how could this happen ?
i believe it's simply an excuse made up by Apple just to force people buying the more expensive iPad Air during iPad mini retina shortage

When I saw the thread, I was wondering how long it would take to get to the Apple market-control conspiracy theory. Thanks!;)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mabhatter Avatar
149 months ago
Why does Apple always face shortage in supply? Does Samsung? I'm quite confused. Apple should have an excellent supply chain. They can afford more expensive methods of production given their wide profit margins. Yet they continually struggle to meet demand. Why?

Because Apple is buying TENS OF MILLIONS of panels.. That's multiple factories' yearly outputs. Apple is elling as many iPads with top of the line displays per year now as PC makers (all of them) sell laptops (with many crappy screens) The sheer scale of Apple versus everybody else is staggering.

----------

Maybe they should stick with Samsung for their displays given all the problems they seem to have with the other suppliers.

Because Samsung can't be respectful as a business PARTNER when Apple delivers multiple BILLIONS of dollars of sales to its factories. Proper business partners don't badmouth their CUSTOMER'S products on TV.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macchiato2009 Avatar
149 months ago
this is ridiculous,

suppliers usually know quite a long time in advance that they will have to manufacture upcoming products

how can they be short on stock ?


and considering how long they have been working with Apple already, how could this happen ?


i believe it's simply an excuse made up by Apple just to force people buying the more expensive iPad Air during iPad mini retina shortage
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SockRolid Avatar
149 months ago
Do we know for fact that the screens are NOT igzo?

Yes, all iPads use IPS panels.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/compare/

Not totally sure, but I'm pretty confident that IPS refers to the pixel display technology and IGZO refers to the material used to make the "transparent wires" used to address each pixel. Sort of analogous to light bulbs vs. the type of wire used to connect them to a power supply (e.g. aluminum vs. copper wires.)

And I've heard that IGZO can be used in OLED screens as well. Different pixel chemistry, same low-resistance IGZO conductors. IGZO has 40% less resistance than the current transparent conductor technology (amorphous silicon.)

Just as a thought experiment, let's say that Apple has already implemented IGZO-based IPS LCD panels in the iPhone 5S and both new A7-powered iPads. Do you think they would hype IGZO? Or would they just hype the fantastic battery life + lighter weight + thinner enclosure? The way they did at last week's iPad event? I'd say they do the latter.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
michaelsviews Avatar
149 months ago
Really Apple

Shortages ? or Marketing Tactic ? :rolleyes:

Hmmmmm ;):apple:
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...