Sam Oliver
Executives at longtime Apple supplier TPK — thought to have been selected by the iPhone maker to manufacture touch modules for the so-called "iWatch" — are said to have revised earlier forecasts for a profit uptick in the third quarter, pushing the expected surge back by three months in what is seen as an indication that Apple's wearable is suffering from delays.
The change was announced at a corporate conference in TPK's home country of Taiwan, according to Taiwanese newspaper UDN. The report was first noted by GforGames.
TPK has long been a primary supplier of touch components for Apple's iPhone and iPad lines, with rumors that Apple would again turn to the Taipei firm for the iWatch first appearing in February. TPK subsidiary TPK Films — a joint venture between TPK, Japan's Nissha Printing, and Silicon Valley firm Cambrios — was said to have been chosen to produce touch modules based on silver nanowires using a special ink made by Cambrios.
Silver nanowire touch modules can be flexible and require no additional sensors to register touches, allowing the overall package to be smaller. TPK Films is one of only a handful of manufacturers with the capability to produce such parts.
If true, it would be the latest in what appears to be a series of delays suffered by Apple's hotly-anticipated wearable device. The report does square with an earlier missive from well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who suggested that production would be pushed to November.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
44 Comments
Here we go again, a rumor about a rumor ... Wall Street are you taking notes?
What if the pushback has more to do with payments from Apple and accounting, not directly related to the actual delivery of parts?
What if the pushback was not for an Apple product?
What I dislike more than these rumours of an unannounced product rumour being pushed back is AI always using the same crappy mockup images.
There will be no watch!!!!!
Sigh. It's going to be a long summer. Do rumor sites have to report every time some Asian news source translated by some no-name American tech site reports on a rumored delay of a rumored product? :no: