Amid speculations on the release date of Apple's much-anticipated smartphone, dubbed as iPhone 6, a new report has emerged that the Cupertino giant may choose Innolux over Samsung and Sharp for screen panel production of the device.
Innolux Corporation, one of the world's leading TFT-LCD suppliers to major electronics product makers based in Taiwan, was bidding with Samsung Electronics and Sharp to become the third supply vendor of 4.7-inch model of iPhone 6 screen panel and won it, reported udn.com, quoting Taiwan's Economic Daily News.
The newspaper reported citing sources from supply chain that Apple Inc. had to look for one more screen panel maker for its next-generation smartphone, besides LG Display (LGD) and Japan Display Corporation (JDI), anticipating huge public demand upon its release. It added that the Cupertino giant ruled out Samsung for the production of the screen panel over its rivalry in the market, and Sharp over issues with its recent sample panel.
Several conflicting reports on the release date of iPhone 6 have surfaced over the last few months with the latest report claiming that it would be unveiled a month earlier than speculated. Reuters recently reported citing Taiwan's Economic Daily News that the 4.7-inch model would be released in August, while the 5.5-inch variant would arrive in September. The news agency had earlier reported citing sources from the supply chain that Apple suppliers would start mass production of iPhone 5S successor as early as May and hit the market in autumn.
It was earlier reported that Apple Inc. might announce its new product at its upcoming WWDC event in June. A research note from UBS Managing Director Steve Milunovich (via Barron's) had claimed that the 4.7-inch variant of iPhone 6 would be launched either in August or September, and Nikkei also claimed that the device would be launched as early as September.
Apple is reportedly coming out with two variants of iPhone 6 - 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models, which may have full scratch-free sapphire crystal glass screen. South Korean brokerage KDB Daewoo Securities reported that the smaller model would have a display with a 1920x1080p (440ppi), while the bigger model would have 2272×1280 (510ppi), and both the devices would be powered by the A8 chip (64-bit) and run on iOS 7.2.
The next-generation smartphone from Apple may also feature low temperature polysilicon in-cell touch panels, Touch ID fingerprint security, NFC, metal casing and a 8MP rear camera with f/2.2 aperture, according to Apple Insider website, citing analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Chinese analyst Sun Chang Xu also hinted that the device may have sensors that can detect pressure, temperature and humidity.
