Apple is the biggest tablet maker right now, so one partner might not be enough for one of its most popular products. Traditionally the likes of LG and Sharp supplied screen panels for the iPads, but now it appears that Samsung is ready to produce some iPad Mini Retina screens.
They will start that process in the second half of the year, according to people in the know. The panels for the original iPad were also manufactured by Taiwanese company AUO, so we wonder which of the 3 companies mentioned in this article will lose its contract in favour of Samsung. It seems that AUO won’t make any more iPad Mini screen, so they will have to focus on smartphones.
LG and Sharp will continue to make panels, but a good part of Sharp’s orders will be taken over by Samsung. In spite of all the court battling, Apple continues to rely on Samsung and recent rumors even placed the Apple A8 CPU in Sammy’s portofolio, yet again. The thing is that Sharp is great with IGZO panels and once their contribution decreases, quality may also be weaker…
