Apple New iPad Touchscreens Supplied by Samsung

By Tech Wire Asia | 14 March, 2012

Even though Apple and Samsung are bitter rivals in the tablet and smartphone market — to the extent of suing each other for design and technology patent infringement — it seems Apple and Samsung still play well together. The mutually-beneficial supplier relationship is further validated by the fact that Apple’s new iPad sports touchscreen panels from Samsung.

Apple's new iPad is "resolutionary" due to its impressive screen resolution and pixel density, and the new quad-core graphics processing chip included in its system-on-chip design. Samsung has supplied touchscreens for the new iPad, given demanding resolution and quality requirements that other suppliers were unable to meet.

The Cupertino, CA based Apple and Seoul, South Korea based Samsung have been at each other’s throats for the most part of 2011 disputing each other’s use of designs and technologies in their respective tablet computers and smartphone offerings. Apple has gone as far as win injunctions in some jurisdictions that banned the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab. Meanwhile, Samsung was almost successful in seeking a ban of the iPhone 4 sale in certain countries.

To date, Apple and Samsung have standing patent infringement cases in 10 countries and four continents. However, the so-called frienemies still have a mutually beneficial relationship, with Samsung having supplied the 9.7-inch “Retina” displays in all of Apple’s New iPads. Apple’s other suppliers, LG and Sharp, were unable to meet quality expectations, Bloomberg reports. IHS iSuppli senior manager Vinita Jakhanwal says the new iPad’s dispaly specifications are very demanding in terms of resolution. “Achieving this high resolution without compromising on the power consumption and brightness and maintaining Apple’s quality standards are supposedly proving to be a challenge for LG Display and Sharp,” he says.

IHS iSuppli regularly publishes estimates as to production costs of popular conusmer devices, based on component costs and known manufacturing costs. iSuppli is likewise popular for its “teardowns” that tear apart gadgets in order to determine the components and parts that make it up.

The new iPad’s touchscreen runs at a 2048×1536 resolution, which is double the previous generation iPad. Apple will start shipping the new iPad this March 16th in its initial markets, including Hong Kong and Singapore. The company has already sold out pre-order allotments, which means interested iPad buyers will need to wait another two to three weeks to get their tablet computers.

Analysts estimate that Appple could sell 1 million new iPad units on its first day alone. Apple sold 15.43 million iPad 2 units in the last quarter of 2011, which is up 4 million units from the third quarter of the year. If these figures keep up — which they likely will — it means healthy revenues for Samsung as well. So whether consumers buy the iPad or the Samsung Galaxy Tab, it seems Samsung will be a winner in either case.