iPhone 4 set for huge stock shortages?
Retina Display could put big hole in supply
Apple's forthcoming iPhone 4 release could end in disappointment for a number of prospective customers following reports of production issues.
Analysts are stating that the Retina Display, the new high resolution screen that makes up a large part of the attraction to the new iPhone 4, has been hit by a pretty major hitch.
Apparently the in-plane switching, part of the structure that controls the pixels, is the source of the issue, although it's anticipated the issue will be mostly resolved by August - but this will mean the droves looking to get a handset from 24 June could be largely left disappointed.
Supply and demand
The news comes from Rodman Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar, who cites sources from Apple's supply and manufacturing partners.
He notes that it's likely the iPhone 4 production rate will be cut from four million per month to two million, which would obviously have a huge bearing on the amount of phones available for pre-orders.
We've already seen news that strongly suggests there will be an iPhone 4 shortage on release day, with Apple now stating any iPhone 4 bought direct will be delivered from 2 July.
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O2 has also decided to only offer existing customers an upgrade, with new punters left out in the cold - so it seems certain there will be a shortage of iPhone 4 units kicking around; it just remains to be seen how many.
From The Street
Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grew with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.