Taiwan-Based ASE Grabs Majority of Apple Watch 2 SiP Orders [Digitimes]

The launch date of the second-generation Apple Watch is still unknown – two contradictory reports surfaced lately – but Digitimes sources have confirmed the names of companies that are part of the supply chain securing orders of the upcoming wearable.

Apple watch

Taiwanese Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) was already responsible for the SiP (system-in-package) modules for the first-generation Apple Watch, and it has secured the majority of SiP orders for the second-generation device, industry sources have informed Digitimes.

The remaining orders are shared between Amkor Technology and STATS ChipPAC, a unit of Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Technology (JCET), according to the Digitimes report.

Apple has also made other changes in the Watch supply chain: While the first-gen wearable supply chain included Nanya PCB and Kinsus Interconnect Technology, Apple opted only for Kinsus with the second-generation Watch.

There is a light probability that the Apple Watch 2 will be announced in June at WWDC 2016, and analyst Brian White seems to be betting on that. However, White doesn’t have a proven track record for predicting unreleased Apple product features or the like. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo does, however, and this week he said that the Watch 2 would likely launch sometime in the fall and that customers will have to wait until next year to see a “major redesign” of the wearable.

P.S. - Like our news? Support the site with a coffee/beer. Or shop with our Amazon link. We use affiliate links when possible--thank you for supporting independent media.