“The iPad 2 is still hard to get, both in the U.S. and in other countries where it has launched internationally,” Darrell Etherington reports for GigaOM. “Luckily for would-be buyers, Apple is taking steps to reinforce and supplement its existing supply chain in order to be able to move more iPads more quickly.”
“In order to boost iPad supply, Apple is reportedly taking on a new supplier of displays for the tablet,” Etherington reports. “According to the Taiwan Economic News, AU Optronics Corp, which is the world’s fourth-largest LCD maker by volume, has been contracted by Apple to provide flat panel screens for the iPad 2.”
Etherington reports, “This would mark the first time Apple has used AUO for iPad supplies. The report also says the rate Apple will pay for the displays is roughly three or four times the average rate paid by others for displays of the same size. It’s possible AUO was able to negotiate a very favorable rate in order to guarantee a significant percentage of AUO’s total output capability.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]