AUO, CMO prep new MacBook LCDs for summer?

Two panel makers are evenly splitting orders for new LCDs to be used in upcoming consumer MacBooks, according to a story in Taiwan's Commercial Times. The newspaper claims that two of the island's more prominent display makers, AU Optronics and Chi Mei Optoelectronics, are being tapped by Apple to produce the screens for mainstream systems that will be launched sometime during the summer. The Times doesn't mention screen sizes or other characteristics of the LCDs.

Recent reports by AppleInsider suggest a major reworking of the consumer portable that includes a shift to aluminum. Timing for the launch is believed to hinge in part on Intel's official debut of its Centrino 2 notebook platform and accompanying processors, which is expected to ship sometime in June.

Market watchers in the region are also said by the financial publication to be predicting more than three million MacBooks shipped in 2008, though it's unclear whether this includes the remaining two quarters or the entire year. Apple's second quarter saw the company sell more than 1.4 million portables, most of which are known to be the basic 13-inch models rather than the MacBook Air or Pro.

Filed under: computers, industry
Other story tags: MacBook, AUO, CMO