Rumours that Apple’s partners are struggling to meet production goals for the Apple Watch refuse go to away. While early rumours suggested that some six million Apple Watches would be ready in time for the launch, a recent report suggested that it may only have half that amount. Another report now suggests that Apple Watch production forecasts have now been cut to 1.25 million to 1.5 million units each month.
The main challenge appears to be the Apple Watch display which is being produced by LG Display. Yield capacities are reportedly only in the 30 to 40% range due to the complexity of the process. Rather than using a glass substrate, the new display uses a plastic known as PET (polyethylene terephthalate). A different process is required to create a vacuum between the OLED panel and the plastic substrate. Apparently highly sensitive to humidity, LG has yet to find a way to tune the technique to a point where it can achieve yields that meet Apple’s original production demand.
Quanta, which is responsible for the final assembly of the watches, has also struggled to meet its production goals. It has reportedly run into issues assembling a much smaller device than the notebooks and other electronics it is used to assembling. Quanta may have only been able to ship some 300,000 Apple Watches a month to Apple so far.
As already rumoured, the report adds that Apple has called upon Foxconn to help it ramp up Apple Watch production.
If these rumours turn out to be accurate, the Apple Watch could be heavily constrained at launch, leading to the traditional Apple customer lineups outside of stores.
Sources : UDN // G for Games