iPad 3: super-high-res displays a go, but yields will be low
It’s the most definitive assurance yet that Apple’s next iPad will include a screen with a near “retina display”-quality resolution: DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim has told CNET that “production has started” for 2048x1536, 10-inch-class tablet screens, and three manufacturers—Samsung, Sharp and LGD—are supplying parts to Apple.
“It takes a couple of weeks for the production to go to the [the manufacturers],” Shim told CNET. “Then the manufacturer puts them in the housing. Then, that goes off to shipment. We could start seeing finished devices produced in December. And then being ready to be shipped in January. With volumes gearing up in February and March.”
Shim’s words bear a confidence that’s been missing from most discussions concerning the iPad 3’s display aspirations. Just three weeks ago, when I directly asked DisplaySearch Senior Vice President Paul Semenza if he thought Apple would be able to deliver an iPad 3 with a 2048×1536 screen resolution by the first quarter of 2012, he told me, “We don’t have a forecast on it, no. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t get there. They’re dealing with a lot of new technologies.”
