“Apple has decided to buy all HDI [High Density Interconnect – MDN Ed.] plates produced by Unimicron at its full production capacity, as HDI supply is running short worldwide, The Liberty Times reports (as noted by BrightWire, a global investment newswire), citing ‘unidentified analysts,'” Dennis Sellers reports for Apple Daily Report.
“Unimicron management said last year that capital expenditure will rise to TWD 10.67 billion (about US$341 million) in 2015 to expand production capacity for Apple’s orders,” Sellers reports. “Unimicron became the world’s biggest HDI producer after Panasonic left the PCB [Printed Circuit Board – MDN Ed.] business, and the Taiwan-based company returned to Apple’s supply chain last year.”
Read more in the full article here.
Anyone know what HDI plates do? Why this is important?
It helps Apple make stuff thinner.
Think screen, trackpad, SSD, wireless connectors.
Chips send signals from one chip to another through, you guessed it, interconnection pieces.
High Density Interconnect. And dammit, I can’t buy Unimicron on any US Exchanges.
This is another example of why having a large cash reserve is good business for Apple. Competitors will now scramble for component supply
Apple has been working with this company for years
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2012/12/apple-shifts-its-arm-flip-chip-biz-from-samsung-to-unimicron.html
I wish Panasonic (Matsuchita) could get entirely back on its feet again. I’ve always respected their work. I wish they could take over everything Samsung is hired to do for Apple. *sigh*