While Apple was able to make good on its April delivery dates for the iPad to U.S. customers, Apple had to delay the worldwide rollout by a full month due to demand outstripping supply.
Now analysts close to part vendors point to the iPad's 9.7-inch IPS display as the culprit for the supply problems. Bloomberg cites Andrew Rassweiler, an analyst at research firm ISuppli Corp, saying, "We understand that the yields on the display have been low and that they’re creating a production bottleneck. That they have been doing it for the iPhone for some time is great, but once you go to 9.7 inches, it is a much more complicated process."
In related news, DigiTimes cites its sources in the component industry as saying that Apple is currently investigating the use of OLED panels for its next iPad, expected to hit sometime in 2011.
While OLED panels are now making their way into mobile devices such as PMPs and smartphones, DigiTimes' in-house analyst believes that even by next year the price of a 9.7-inch OLED panel would still be cost prohibitive.
Currently, the IPS panel in the iPad is estimated to cost between $60-70, while a similarly sized OLED screen would be in the $500 range.
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