Apple Orders Nearly 4 Million iPad mini With Retina For Shipment In November
According to a new report from Digitimes, Apple has increase the order of iPad mini with Retina display to nearly 4 million units in November. This is a result of improvement in the availability of components from various suppliers, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.
“Currently, Apple’s orders for the iPad mini with Retina have already surpassed those for the first-generation iPad mini,” Max Wang and Joseph Tsai report for Digitimes. “As for the iPad Air, because the supply chain had a longer preparation time, the device is seeing much more stable supply compared to previous-generation devices when launched.”
The iPad mini with Retina display did not go on sales until November 12, over a week after the 9.7-inch iPad Air launched. This led to speculate that Apple was having problems manufacturing the device.
“Shortages of Retina displays were the main reason causing the iPad mini to suffer from tight supply since manufacturing a 7-inch Retina display is more difficult than a 9.7-inch one,” the report explained. “Because of the issue, the iPad mini with Retina did not become available in retail channels until mid-November.”