Apple Inc. (AAPL) will use screens from AU Optronics Corp. (2409) and LG Display Co. (034220) for a smaller version of the iPad to be released in October, according to four people familiar with the plans.
TPK Holding Co. (3673) and Yeh Cheng Technology, a subsidiary of Foxconn Technology Group, will supply the lamination coating for the device that will measure 7.85 inches diagonally, said the people, who declined to be identified because the plans haven’t been made public. Current iPads measure 9.7 inches.
An Apple Inc. store in New York. Photographer: Peter Foley/Bloomberg
The orders will mark the first time AUO, a maker of panels for Apple’s MacBooks and Sony Corp. TVs, is supplying screens for Apple handheld devices. Photographer: Maurice Tsai/Bloomberg
Offering a smaller tablet may help Apple hold onto share of a market it dominates in the face of new devices from Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. The orders will mark the first time AUO, a maker of panels for Apple’s MacBooks and Sony Corp. TVs, is supplying screens for Apple handheld devices.
Carolyn Wu, a spokeswoman for Apple, declined to comment.Sharp Corp. (6753) may make panels for the device in the future and will not be an initial supplier, three of the people said. Sharp spokesman Heihachiro Ochiai declined to comment.
Yawen Hsiao, spokeswoman for Hsinchu, Taiwan-based AUO, and Claire Ohm, a Seoul-based spokeswoman for LG Display, declined to comment. Freddie Liu, chief financial officer for Taipei- based TPK, and Simon Hsing, spokesman for Foxconn flagship Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., declined to comment.
(Source: Bloomberg)
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