Local industry 'significantly damaged'

A Taiwanese firm, Cvilux, is filling in for a Japanese company in supplying connectors for the iPad 2, market watchers claim. Cvilux is refusing to discuss its clients, but does say that it expects Q1 2011 profits to be higher than that those in Q4 2010. The company additionally suggests that it may be able to beat records in the second quarter this year.

Cvilux is reportedly taking orders from a number of companies impacted by last month's 9.0 earthquake, centered off of Japan's northeast coastline. On top killing and injuring thousands of people, the catastrophe also disrupted local industry, leaving corporations like Apple scrambling to find alternative suppliers. Before the quake Apple was using connectors from Hirose Electric, but the latter has allegedly been unable to meet demand because of Japanese brownout measures.

The market analysts note that Cvilux is also seeing increased business related to notebooks and LED TVs. The iPad 2 is not the only Apple product which has encountered trouble; iPod production, for example, has been hurt by damage to a Kureha factory which produced most of the world's polyvinylidene fluoride. Other suppliers affected by the quake include the likes of Toshiba, Mitsubishi and Asahi Glass.

By Electronista Staff