Analyst predicts iPad Air 2 shortages and no 21-inch Retina iMac
A fresh analyst report suggests that the first batch of iPad Air 2 tablets will be quite limited, and that there’ll be no 21-inch iMac with Retina display this year.
Apple will be holding another launch event on Thursday October 16 (yep, that’s tomorrow), where it’s widely expected to update its iPad and Mac lines. OS X Yosemite will also be properly launched.
However, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo – a well known authority on the Apple supply line – has issued a report suggesting that many Apple fans will face frustration over the coming weeks.
For one thing, Kuo reckons that iPad Air 2 availability will be strictly limited at first, with estimated numbers of just 7-9 million. If that sounds a lot, keep in mind that last year’s iPad Air shipped with 12 million units.
The reason for this shortfall is apparently “poor yield rate of anti-reflective coating cover lens.”
Kuo does have the bright news that the 27-inch iMac with Retina display will ship this year, but reports that the 21-inch model won’t ship until the second half of 2015. Apparently, it’s very difficult to ship two different sized high resolution panels simultaneously.
Elsewhere, Kuo cleans up a number of lingering issues. There’ll be no new MacBooks at the October 16 event (so no 12-inch Retina-equipped MacBook Air), he says, and no significant update to the iPad Mini – partly because Apple is ploughing its resources into the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
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Via: MacRumours