Following KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s prediction of an iPad Pro launch this fall, Digitimes’ sources have confirmed that the rumoured device will enter mass production by the end of the third quarter, and that Apple has selected Sharp as its display supplier.
Alongside Sharp, the supply-chain sources point to a Foxconn Group subsidiary, General Interface Solution (GIS), as the supplier of touch modules, lamination, and the LCM assembly. However, Sharp isn’t the only display manufacturer Apple has tapped for the iPad Pro: Samsung Display and TPK will be secondary manufacturers, with the latter being responsible for touch modules, and Samsung for displays as well as LCD assembly, the sources say.
Rumours of an iPad Pro have been around for some while, but little information has surfaced so far. What we assume based on earlier whispers and well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s predictions is that it will sport a 12.9-inch or 12.2-inch display. According to AppSee, the yet unreleased iPad (spotted in their analytics) has a screen resolution of 2,048 × 2,732 pixels.
While Kuo was predicting about 3.5 million iPad Pro shipments for the fourth calendar quarter, Digitimes’ sources are talking in terms of an order of 4–5 million units.
