After Japan's Quake, Taiwan Helps Fill iPad 2 Supply-Chain Gaps 98
RedEaredSlider writes "Like many device manufacturers, Apple cannot seem to escape supply concerns in the wake of the ongoing crisis in Japan. The company is hoping that AU Optronics will fill the void left by companies like Hitachi and Toshiba, both of which have been affected by the series of disasters that have rocked Japan. Damage to many factories from the earthquake and an ongoing nuclear disaster has disrupted supply chains and caused large slowdowns in production of vital electronic components."
Reading comprehension (Score:4, Informative)
epic fail..
The parts the had been made in Japan were vital to building the iPad.
Not that iPads are vital.
Re:Exactly -- Taiwan suddenly being considered..? (Score:4, Informative)
Like Japan, Taiwan does a lot of high-tech manufacturing.
There is more than one level of high-tech manufacturing. It's one thing to take a 0402 capacitor and put it onto the PCB. It's a very different thing to make that capacitor from microscopic parts in the first place. Do you think there are no trade secrets in ceramics that allow you to cram a few uF [digikey.com] into an 0402 part? (Murata [murata.com] is a Japanese company.) Even this tiny segment of passives is dominated by US and Japanese manufacturers (TDK, Taiyo Yuden, Kemet, Panasonic, Murata.) Even AVX, a very solid US manufacturer, has nothing to offer if you need 4.7uF in size 0402.
Companies like Panasonic-ECG and Rohm are doing very well, and they are producing very cost-competitive components. If you are looking for a low cost surface mounted aluminum capacitor, Panasonic is the most likely manufacturer.