Apple taps Compal to expand Apple Watch Series 4 production capacity

The high sales of the Apple Watch Series 4 has prompted Apple to expand the manufacturing of the wearable device, with the company reportedly turning to Compal Electronics to increase its production capacity by the end of the year.

The current Apple Watch Series 4 assembly partner Quanta Computer is claimed by industry sources of DigiTimes to be at maximum capacity for production at its facility in Changshu, eastern China. Due to this, the sources believe Apple will be tapping Compal as a secondary supplier of the timepiece in the near future, with mass production in its factory set to commence sometime in November.

Quanta and Compal declined to comment to the report on the manufacturing status of the device.

This will not be the first time Compal has been brought in to the Apple Watch manufacturing pipeline. Reports ahead of the Series 3 launch noted the company was brought in to work on the device, handling the production of older-generation models while Quanta concentrated on the new releases.

The high shipments of the Apple Watch Series 4 are exceeding expectations, with TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently suggesting as many as 19.5 million units to ship before the end of the year, up from a previous estimate of 18 million. This would also represent a major increase in shipments compared to the second quarter of 2018, where global shipments for the period are thought to be around 4.2 million.

In early September, the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Wearables Tracker claimed 4.7 million Apple Watch shipments in Q2 2018, providing Apple a 17 percent share of the market, and making it the most popular wearables company in the world.

8 Comments

MacPro 18 Years · 19845 comments

About 6 years ago

As soon as I saw the Apple Watch 4 demoed I knew this was going to be a game changer. I ordered one immediately and many of my friends that resisted any Apple Watch before are ordering them. It's going to be (dare I say it?) HUGE!

GeorgeBMac 8 Years · 11421 comments

I stopped by the Apple Store yesterday and was juggling between an Xs or a Series 4 with LTE.

The advice I got from the Apple rep was: "Go with the Apple Watch. It's the major upgrade of the two". And, I have to agree with him.

Plus, when I laid a 44mm on my arm next to my 42mm Series 1 it was absolutely amazing! The size of the watch was almost identical while the screen on the Series 4 looked huge next to my 44mm series 1. So, I have to apologize to ai for criticizing them for calling the screen on older watches "cramped". But, after seeing it next to the series 4 I know what they mean.

But too, while the Xs was a marvel, it won't do anything that my old 6+ iPhone can't already do.

But, comparing the Series 4 to my Series 1 is a TOTALLY different story:
The Series 4 has waterproofing, a GPS, and an LTE radio that opens up whole new worlds for me both in terms of running as well as safety and, to a lesser extent, health.

gutengel 7 Years · 363 comments

The next step is for the AW becomes a stand alone device. At that point it will be another device that will bring new people into a the Apple ecosystem. I'm very happy jumping from the S0 to the S4.

gutengel said:

The next step is for the AW becomes a stand alone device. At that point it will be another device that will bring new people into a the Apple ecosystem. I'm very happy jumping from the S0 to the S4.

I'm not sure that there is a lot of reason to make the AW a stand alone device but there is still reason to tie it to the more powerful iPhone with its larger screen. I'm not saying that it'll never happen. But, I think the analogy is iTunes -- where originally it was needed to backup and load the iPod and iPhone. Eventually, technology made it possible for Apple to move beyond that. But it served a purpose.

StrangeDays 8 Years · 12986 comments

GeorgeBMac said:

I stopped by the Apple Store yesterday and was juggling between an Xs or a Series 4 with LTE.

The advice I got from the Apple rep was: "Go with the Apple Watch. It's the major upgrade of the two". And, I have to agree with him.

Plus, when I laid a 44mm on my arm next to my 42mm Series 1 it was absolutely amazing! The size of the watch was almost identical while the screen on the Series 4 looked huge next to my 44mm series 1. So, I have to apologize to ai for criticizing them for calling the screen on older watches "cramped". But, after seeing it next to the series 4 I know what they mean.

But too, while the Xs was a marvel, it won't do anything that my old 6+ iPhone can't already do.
But, comparing the Series 4 to my Series 1 is a TOTALLY different story:
The Series 4 has waterproofing, a GPS, and an LTE radio that opens up whole new worlds for me both in terms of running as well as safety and, to a lesser extent, health.

Glad you saw the light after seeing them in person. However it’s untrue that the Xs won’t do anything a 6 Plus does.