Apple's suppliers reportedly postpone production of 'iPad Pro' in favor of new iPhones
The long-rumored larger-screen iPad isn’t expected to go into mass production until early next year, as Apple’s suppliers try to meet strong demand for the recently released larger-screen iPhones.
This is according to a new report by The Wall Street Journal:
“The top priority for the supply chain is to meet the overwhelming demand for the larger screen iPhones. The output of the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus remains unsatisfactory,” said a person at a supplier. “It would be challenging for display makers to split resources and spend a few months to ramp up production for a new larger screen iPad now.”
Apple’s suppliers reportedly planned to commence mass production of the larger iPad in December, concurrent with the start of production of the similarly rumored 12-inch MacBook Air.
The iPad model in question, dubbed “iPad Pro” (or “iPad maxi“) is rumored to have a 12.9-inch display, considerably larger than the current 9.7-inch iPad Air and the 7.9-inch iPad mini.
Apple is widely expected to launch new iPads, along with new Macs, at its special media event on Thursday, Oct. 16. Whether the iPad Pro will be one of them, of course, remains to be seen.
The release of a larger iPad is presumed to be a boon to Apple’s tablet sales, which have been declining in the past year. It may also be seen as part of the company’s attempt to duplicate its “bigger is better” (at least in terms of sales) success with the launch of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus, whose first weekend of availability resulted in sales of more than 10 million units.
