Sharp to start shipping iPhone screens to Apple this month
Apple’s component suppliers seem almost eager to stoke iPhone rumor fires, and all the hot, hot consumer anticipation surrounding them.
On Thursday, Sharp’s new president, Takashi Okuda, said that his company will begin shipping iPhone displays starting this month, according to a report from Reuters. Okuda made the statement at a press event following the release of Sharp’s quarterly earnings report. Sharp’s president didn’t make note of the display’s size, but Reuters reports that the screens are destined for the next version of the iPhone.
[quote]“People are expecting a new iteration of the iPhone to hit the market sometime in the September-October time frame, so this kind of comment fits in to what we’ve been hearing in the market, generally,” IHS analyst Vinita Jakhanwal told Wired. Sharp, Japan Display, and LG Display are the three likely suppliers for the next iPhone’s display.[/quote]
The display of the next iPhone is expected to be larger than that of the iPhone 4S, stretching to 4 diagonal inches. The current iPhone has a 3.5-inch display. The new iPhone display will also reportedly be manufactured using in-cell technology, which means it will be thinner, lighter and more power efficient than current displays.
Okuda didn’t confirm the size or technology used in the production of Apple’s next iPhone display.
Various sources are reporting the next iPhone will be unveiled on September 12, so we should know soon if Okuda’s Thursday statement bears any weight.
