Shipments of the Apple iPhone 5 might be delayed due to a defect that surfaced in some of its touchscreens, according to reports. In a report by DigiTimes, Wintek, the company that makes a significant portion of tough panels for Apple, has been reported to have a problem with “delayed bubbles.” While the issue is not that serious, it can only be detected during the phone’s final assembly process, where it is too late to fix it.
“The defect, ‘delayed bubble,’ is difficult to avoid during panel production, particularly when the defect is not detected during the process of laminating touch panels, and only later found during assembly,” wrote DigiTimes in its report. “Since the manufacturing process of touch panels used in iPhone 5 is of the same as that for iPhone 4, Wintek is expected to remedy the defect quickly, the sources indicated.”
For the new iPhone, the issue is not a showstopper. Wintek is reported to make 25 percent of the new phone’s touchscreen panels, while TPK makes up to 65 percent.
Around 26 million iPhone 5s could ship in autumn, with a few million more to ship by the end of summer. The high volume of shipments could help avoid inventory shortages, but even these small issues could affect launches in other parts of the world.
Apple is believed to be planning to release two new iPhone models, the iPhone 4S or 4-plus, which is cheaper and is almost identical to the current iPhone 4, and the iPhone 5, which is said to have a thinner body and larger display.
via: The Next Web
