“In a report released Monday, LEDinside analysts from market researcher Trendforce said they have yet to see the necessary orders for sapphire glass wending their way through the supply chain in time to meet an expected September launch for a 4.7-inch iPhone 6,” Lance Whitney reports for CNET. “A new iPhone with sapphire glass could still roll out in limited numbers, they noted.”
“Would the lack of a sapphire screen put a dent in sales of a new iPhone?” Whitney reports. “Not likely, though the uber-hard material could be a key selling point.”
Whitney reports, “In their report, the analysts explained their pessimism over a large-scale rollout of sapphire-screened iPhones in time for September: ‘The sapphire material is still being applied in new generation Apple smartphones camera lenses and fingerprint recognition readers. If the new iPhone keeps up Apple’s previous smartphone models hot selling records, sapphire demands will be driven by the smartphone’s applications till the end of this year. However, the much anticipated sapphire cover glass remains missing from the picture. Analysis of the iPhone 6 supply chain indicates related component suppliers need to ship products to OEMs for assembly in June 2014 to meet the September launch date. Yet, the research institute did not discover demands for smartphone cover glass. The sapphire glass version new iPhone will be issued in limited volumes this year, mostly because sapphire ingot manufacturers yield rates were lower than forecasts and issues involved in sapphire glass processing.'”
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