iPad Mini 2 supplies improve over the holidays, say Taiwan makers

[RaduTyrsina]

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Ever since it was launched for consumers, the iPad Mini 2 has been plagued with supply constraints caused by the bottlenecks encountered by components makers for the iPad mini with Retina display. Finally, a new report from DigiTimes claims that the production issues have been solved, saying that Apple has ordered nearly 4 million iPad mini units with Retina for shipments in November, according to Taiwan makers.

Max Wang and Joseph Tsai with DigiTimes say the following:

As bottlenecks in making components for the iPad mini with Retina have gradually been removed, Apple has increase orders in November to nearly four million units, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers. Currently, Apple's orders for the iPad mini with Retina have already surpassed those for the first-generation iPad mini, the sources noted.

As for the iPad Air, because the supply chain had a longer preparation time, the device is seeing much more stable supply compared to previous-generation devices when launched, the sources said. Shortages of Retina displays were the main reason causing the iPad mini to suffer from tight supply since manufacturing a 7-inch Retina display is more difficult than a 9.7-inch one, the sources explained. Because of the issue, the iPad mini with Retina did not become available in retail channels until mid-November.

According to DigiTimes’ sources,. Apple's orders for the iPad mini with Retina have already surpassed those for the first-generation iPad mini, which just confirms the huge popularity that the device is enjoying. In-store availability of the Retina iPad Mini models has recently improved quite a bit for Apple’s US retail stores so this shows the supply problem is apparently being taken care off.

Source: DigiTimes