One of Apple's key Asian retail partners, Foxlink, is planning to double the number of Apple-exclusive stores it operates in the region. The chain currently has about 50 stores, but says it will expand to 100 locations by the end of the year. Existing outlets are spread throughout China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea.
Apple's plans for the iPhone 5 may see it move a large number of its parts from Japan to Taiwan, a . A Foxconn parts wing, Foxconn Electronics, as well as Foxlink, Gold Circuit Electronics and Epistar are all new supplying parts such as the iconic white earphones, the headphone jacks, boards and LED lights where Japanese suppliers like Foster. The American was said by the Economic Daily News to be looking for "more cost-effective sources" after a strong Japanese yen made parts more expensive.
Foxconn's recently launched Chengdu factories have turned tor producing iPads to help cope with demand, part makers claimed on Tuesday. The lines for the Apple tablet would start out at 10,000 per day, but at 300,000 per month would help keep up with holiday demand and beyond. Insiders for Digitimes said it had already started shipping iPads this month and could be a "major supply base" by early 2011, in time for the next-generation iPad.
Nikon may be on the verge of releasing an industry-first combination camera and video projector if a leak proves accurate. French magazine Chasseur d’Images (Image Chaser) in its August issue claims that a new camera, the Coolpix VP650, should be unveiled this month and will have a micro projector that can produce a just over page-sized (8in by 12in) image in low light by itself. Most other details aren't clear in the information supplied to Nikon Rumors, but the VP650 would ship in September.
The Palm Pre may cost significantly more to make than first anticipated and has surprising similarity to the iPhone's supply chain as it's existed in the past, according to a post-launch cost breakdown by iSuppli. Originally thought to cost $138 in raw manufacturing and parts, the smartphone is now estimated to cost at least $140 and as much as $160. Much of the price is attached to the 3.1-inch Sony multi-touch LCD, which with its Cypress controller costs about $40.60.
The companies responsible for manufacturing parts in the next major iPhone release have potentially been named by industry contacts of DigiTimes that also predict ship dates and numbers. The Taiwan-area site reinforces its previous claim that OmniVision is making a 3.2-megapixel sensor for the Apple handset's camera and now says that Largan Precision is making the rest of the imaging unit. Infineon is continuing to provide the cellular baseband (likely upgraded to 7.2Mbps 3G) as well as the GPS chipset.
