Mass Shipment of iPad 2 Expected on April

Written on January 23, 2011 by Charles Bass

Does the increase in the number of PCB suppliers hint that iPad 2 is coming anytime soon?

Apple’s iPad 2 remains a big question to everyone. When will it be released and how it looked like remain to be a mystery to everyone. It has been rumored that the device will ship come February or March.

However, there is a new report from Digitimes claiming that Apple’s new tablet will hit “mass shipment stage” by April. Plus Apple has increased their amount of PCB suppliers by more than half, from three to seven adding Compeq Manufacturing, Gold Circuit Electronics (GCE), Meiko and Nan Ya PCB to the mix.

Here’s the exact statement from Digitimes:

“Apple has increased the number of PCB suppliers for iPad 2 from three to seven, industry sources have claimed. The newly-added contract makers, Compeq Manufacturing, Gold Circuit Electronics (GCE), Meiko and Nan Ya PCB, will begin shipments of any-layer HDI boards in small volumes between the end of February and early March prior to mass shipments in April, according to the sources.

Ibiden, Tripod Technology and TTM Technologies were the initial PCB suppliers for iPad 2, according to previous reports.

The above mentioned companies declined to comment on customer status.

Any-layer HDI PCBs are seeing growing adoption among smartphones and tablet PCs. Industry observers have predicted a shortage of such components during 2011 due to the rising demand and several supply side issues. These include challenges relating to yield rates for 4-and-above-layer boards with complicated circuit designs, and supply constraints for laser drilling and electroplating equipment.”

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