back to article 1m iPad 3s being built this quarter, says analyst

Apple's contract manufacturers have started punching out parts for the iPad 3. So says market watcher Jeff Fidacaro of US-based Susquehanna Financial, a stock broker. Citing "supply chain checks", he reckons Apple is now planning to produce 12-14m iPads during the current quarter. Last time he checked, the total was 11-13m of …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Joe K
    Thumb Down

    Yeah yeah

    Same analysts and chinese "leaks" that had all the juicy info on the Iphone 5 and iphone mini eh?

    Oh and the recent iPad mini too.

    Sorry guys, since that debacle a couple of weeks ago any Apple "insider leaks" are an absolute waste of time, even if they do make an easy story.

    1. tmTM

      Here here, Apple tech rumours are as reliable as a plumbers estimate.

      No more stories on Chinese whispers, people don't care and don't believe them.

      1. UkForest
        Headmaster

        I know I'm being an arse, but it's "Hear Hear" shortened from Hear Him, Hear Him....

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      LOL

      Newsflash!!!

      Apple are gonna upgrade the iPad in the future

      Apple are gonna upgrade the iPhone in the future

      Apple are gonna upgrade the iPods in the future

      Apple are gonna upgrade the Macs in the future

      Apple are gonna ....

      It's hardly bloody news that Apple are gonna upgrade a device, its a certain fact, don't need to be an overpaid analyst to come to that conclusion.

  2. Dave Murray
    FAIL

    Is this one of the analysts that was telling us all about the iPhone 5 a few weeks ago?

    How do these guys get paid so much money for making up such utter garbage and then cliaming a chinese person told them it?

    1. Chad H.

      On the iPhone 5

      I for one wouldn't be suprised if its sitting in a launchable state in a safe somewhere in cuppertino. They're going to need to show the world *something* in a few months time to prove the ghost of Steve is still there to justify the share price - makes sense to hold back a product or two.

      1. tom cc

        Not really.

        Apple have no need to "justify" their share price. Their spectacular revenues do that for them. They'll release when they're ready to release.

      2. Volker Hett

        They are probably working out whom to pay what for his LTE patents while waiting for some sort of LTE infrastructure usable for phonecalls outside some big cities in the USA.

        1. Danny 14
          Stop

          they do

          share prices are based mainly on future performance not current, if they dont have the odd rumour then investors get skittish and cash out now thus dropping the price.

  3. Nick Ryan Silver badge

    A display res. of 2048 x 1536? That'll be interesting to keep responsive and to keep the power consumption levels down, especially when full HD video is involved.

    Of course, the latest chips are much more efficient at such video decoding and rendering but it'll be interesting to see it done.

    1. Ammaross Danan
      FAIL

      Don't worry....

      Remember? The iPad2 was said to have a 2048x1536 display too. Knowing Apple, if you take the best screen resolution available for Android near the time of release, then knock a bit off or assume same resolution, you're likely going to be right:

      iPad2 = 1024x768

      Samsung GalaxyTab 10.1 = 1280x800.

      Motorola Xoom = 1280x800.

      So, the iPad2 falls into the "knock a bit off" category. (yes the Tab "released" a few weeks after the iPad2, but the Xoom existed well before).

      1. GrahamS
        Gimp

        Great analysis...

        So where does the iPhone 4 figure in your insightful startling analysis?

        Pretty sure its 960 x 640 display was bigger than the "the best screen resolution available for Android near the time of release".

        No idea if it still holds the "largest resolution phone" crown, but it is still very high up the list and has the highest pixel density.

  4. NeverYouMind
    Facepalm

    Never quite understand these analysts.

    All they bleeding want is the share price to go up so they make money and the last Apple prediction they all did was the equivalent of pigs learning to fly with all the iPhone 5 rumours abound.

    Why the hell should we believe them this time around?

    One of the biggest bunch of numpties going.

  5. Colin Millar
    Thumb Down

    Analyst schmanalyst

    He's a stockbroker's fluffer and you should know better.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Surely

    Those most have been parts for the Galaxy Tab as Samsung thought they'd win the court cases and can continue their copy cat style of business in the market sector??

  7. JDX Gold badge

    retina display

    Please develop something useful. A resolution that high on a screen that small is pointless and serves only to increase battery drain when the processor has to be more powerful accordingly. A nightmare for [3D] game developers if they have to write 4X as many pixels.

    1. bhtooefr
      Facepalm

      Because they have to draw full resolution

      There are legitimate text rendering benefits to a 2048x1536 tablet.

      And, if a game developer wants a game to run fast on a 2048x1536 tablet... there's always running it at 1024x768.

    2. GrahamS
      Gimp

      Please give us a Retine display

      Please develop this! It IS useful :)

      The only reason I haven't bought an iPad yet is that I'm waiting for the Retina display version.

      A resolution of 300ppi+ in that format would be amazing. Once you have a light instant-on handheld with good battery life, with a screen which is higher resolution than most basic printed material, then digital magazines, newspapers and illustrated books start to make a LOT more sense.

      Great way to show off photos in a traditional "gather round the photo album" way too.

      And it'd be perfect for watching HD movies on the train/plane.

      Granted some games might struggle with higher resolution, but they could always just use the existing resolution and scale up with pixel doubling.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Not really

      if something chunks four pixels into one when doing 3d. You end up with a manageable resolution. Cmon, you think we didn't think of that?

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I have an iPad 2 and higher resolution screen would be better

    particularly for text sharpness which would improve readability and make it more comfortable to use. I would trade battery life for it and I don't care about 3D games developers, they could stick with 1/2 resolution if they wanted.

    If you factor in the distance between hands and eyes the resolution currently isn't that high. The iPhone 4 screen is much sharper (I don't have one yet but I do lust after them). If I hadn't broken my bike and got myself a nice new mountain bike recently I think I would have bought a iPhone 4S to replace my 3GS although the Xperia Arc does look very good too.

  9. JDX Gold badge

    Nope.

    You very rarely see people using screens above 1600x1200 (or widescreen equivalent) even on 24" PC screens they work on all day. On a 10" screen, 2400x1568 is pointless.

    There's a reason PCs didn't continue scaling resolutions ever higher on monitors as graphics chips made this possible - it's unnecessary.

    1. GrahamS

      Yup.

      There are a couple of obvious reasons for this:

      1) your PC screen is probably at arms length, a lot further away from your face than you would naturally hold a tablet.

      2) PCs have been historically stuck at 72/96ppi screens since the 80's because so many apps use pixel-perfect layouts, with pixel based fonts, which would be unreadably small on a 300ppi screen.

      3) You might think 2) could be solved by some cunning OS scaling, but try increasing the logical DPI of the screen in XP (Display Settings->Advanced) and see how many of your apps are now completely broken.

      As for "pointless", most iPhone 4 owners would disagree, the screen is one of its best features.

      1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

        Willy waving

        I had a screen comparison with a Phoney the other week. Whilst I agree that pixel density is important for text it hardly matters for anything else. I recently watched VHS video on my 2500 x 1600 screen and at more than a metre away it really didn't matter that much. The human cares much more about contrast and movement and while the Iphone's IPS does give better colours than my Super AMOLED (the Samsung has a notable blue shift when viewed obliquely), it's black is shit in comparison. Plus I can actually use my phone in bright sunlight. I prefer pictures on my phone. As you might imagine the discussion was inconclusive - many people seem to have bought into pixel density as the Holy Grail of screens. Great marketing but poor science.

        I would expect Apple to be addressing the daylight usability of their slabs in a next release. Or maybe just launch law suits against the Kindle Fire which is going to define at least price expectations from now on.

    2. Britt Johnston
      Alien

      beyond human

      I have noticed that my dogs pay more attention to a TV with HD screen, and even our cat is will occasionally have a flutter at films with birds flying around.

      So maybe they are aiming at the predicted market for animal lovers

  10. gibman70

    the ipad2 display is going to look crap next to the retina resolution of the new one..haha bad luck to all the saps who are getting an ipad2 this xmas. enjoy it for all of a couple months before becoming a loser.

  11. NeilMc

    Yet more Worthless and Baseless rumours

    I heard exactly the same from a chinese guy in my local take away restaurant or was it a laundry, actually was he even chinese. In fact I am sure the iPad3 will appear and disappear from a bar near Cupertino in the next few weeks.

    These unsubstantiated reports are worthless drivel that serve no useful purpose other than Market Analyst self promotion. Therefore disregard them.

    As eloquently stated above Apple will do what it has always done, when its ready and I look forward to the real news rather than the spin-doctory these guys are pushing.

    I have placed my order for the iPhone 4s, as my first personal smartphone and I look forward to receiving that in the coming week. The iPad I am still unconvinced as to what I would usefully use it for, so I am not a dyed in the wool "Appleite".

    However I remain a huge fan of good design, smart user interfaces and genuinely useful products.

    R.I.P. Steve.........

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like