According to iSuppli, that's the purpose of a $3.9 billion investment revealed last month
The iPhone 4's "retina" display. Photo: Apple Inc.
When COO Tim Cook mentioned during Apple's (AAPL) Q1 2011 earning call that the company was going to spend $3.9 billion over the next two years for unspecified component pre-payments, most analysts assumed he was talking about touch screen displays for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
On Tuesday iSuppli -- now part of IHS -- issued a report that makes it explicit: Apple, according to IHS's Vinita Jakhanwal, is trying to corner the market for two key technologies used in its so-called "retina" displays: advanced in-plane switching (IPS) and low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS).
Based on what companies own or have licensed the key intellectual property behind these technologies, Jakhanwal believes he has identified the three suppliers with which Apple has signed agreements: LG Display (LGL), Sharp Corp. and Toshiba Mobile Display.
This is a big deal because Apple hasn't just made pre-payments for displays, it's actually helping build the factories that will manufacture them, ensuring first crack at everything they produce.
An estimate based on chatter among touch-panel suppliers seems way out of line
Source: Company reports, Apple 2.0
Several sites early Wednesday picked up a report from Taiwan-based DigiTimes that suppliers of 9.7 inch iPad touch-panel screens had received orders from Apple (AAPL) totaling 65 million units for 2011 -- 35 million for LG Display and 15 million each for Samsung and Chimei Innolux.
DigiTimes, which has good sources in Apple's Asian MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Dec 29, 2010 7:11 AM ET
Days before its expected unveiling, details of dubious provenance are pouring in
Rendering: Fotoboer.nl
With Apple (AAPL) set to reveal its "latest creation" Wednesday, new rumors surface almost hourly. We'll try to stay on top of them. [UPDATED Tuesday. See below.]
The rendering at right created by Flickr user Fotoboer.nl last August is "strikingly close" to the real thing, people "familiar with the device" tell AppleInsider's Kasper Jade.
Apple is building two versions, MORE
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