Apple reaction to Wintek glitches triggers industry fallout
updated 09:45 am EDT, Tue October 11, 2011
TPK gains, Wintek, Sintek lose
Recent problems with Wintek touchpanels are creating ripple effects throughout the Taiwanese touchpanel industry, say industry sources contacted by Digitimes. Because of the trouble, Apple -- a key Wintek client -- is said to have have rearranged panel orders among other suppliers. The major beneficiary has allegedly been TPK, which saw revenue jump 53.7 percent month-over-month in September, or 139.7 percent year-over-year.
Wintek dropped 18.4 percent month-over-month and 4.5 percent year-over-year. Another company, Sintek Photronics, saw September numbers slip 50.8 and 44.6 percent respectively because its major client is said to be TPK, which increased the amount of in-house touch sensor production it handles. This was accomplished through subsidiary Cando, which grew September revenue by only 4.3 percent month-over-month but 132 percent year-over-year.
Apple is reported to have rejected a batch of defective Wintek panels that were intended for the iPhone 4S. Initially Wintek's problems were described as affecting an iPhone 5, but this is attributable to people not knowing what the final name of the device would be. The 4S may have been prefigured, though, since manufacturing of the new product's touchpanels was described as similar to the process for the iPhone 4.
