The iPad Mini was announced by Apple on Tuesday this week and it may prove a bigger seller than they estimated, in spite of the pretty big price applied to the product. The $329 7.9 inch slate has the opportunity to become the fastest tablet ever… and face shortages in the process.
Market researcher DisplaySearch claims that the iPad Mini shipments will have problems with lack of supply compliance with the demand. Apple won’t be able to secure enough display panels for the new slate, according to the researcher. LG Display and Taiwan’s AU Optronics are supplying 7.9 inch panels for the new device and AUO already shipped 100k units in September, but it expects to ship 400k this month, 800k in November and 1 million in December. Meanwhile, LG Display moved 300k panels in September and should ship 1 million this month, then 2.5 million in November, reaching 3 million in December.
This gives Apple a total of 1.8 million iPads ready for sale in November, but they have to cover 34 countries in the world with that amount, so it won’t be enough. If the demand is higher than 1.8 million, then shortages will occur. If not, everything should be OK. I have a feeling that waiting times will be huge come mid November…
