Apple Watch’s Supply Constraint Could Be Due To Production Issues

Recently KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo stated that he believed pre-orders for the Apple Watch has exceeded the 2.3 million mark, and if you think the overwhelming orders are to blame for shipping estimates slipping to June, you might be partially right, however Kuo has stated that he believes production issues could be to blame.

According to Kuo, he believes that two components within the Apple Watch are to blame. The components in question are that of the haptic vibration and the OLED display. This is the first time we’ve heard of the haptic vibrator giving problems during production, but issues surrounding the OLED display have been reported in the past, claiming that only 30-40% of the displays sent by LG are usable.

Apparently the hurdles in the display include color accuracy and life span. As for the haptic vibrators, it seems that there are stringent requirements that need to be met for the component, and assuming that there are issues with it, it seems that Apple’s manufacturer might be having trouble getting it up to Apple’s standards.

Based on these production issues, Kuo believes that Apple might only be able to ship anywhere between 15-20 million Apple Watches in 2015 which far below the 20-30 million units that Wall Street had estimated. In the meantime Apple has since removed the 24th of April availability date from its website.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Gadgets
Tags: Apple Watch, Smartwatch, Wearable Tech