A report today may have confirmed that Apple Watch supply shortages are not just do to overwhelming customer demand but also to production challenges. The Wall Street Journal indicates that one of the two suppliers of Apple’s taptic engine component is struggling with reliability issues. The component, which produces the sensation of being tapped on the wrist, was found to begin to fail over time during reliability testing. As a result, Apple was forced to scrap an unspecified number of completed Apple Watches.
The supplier in question is China-based AAC Technologies Holdings Inc. Unfortunately for Apple, the issue only surfaced once mass production began. Fortunately, taptic engine components supplied by Japan’s Nidec Corp. have not experienced the same issue. As a result, Apple has shifted the bulk of its order for this component to Nidec which is now increasing production to meet the additional demand.
In another lucky turn, it looks like Apple will not have to issue a recall as the issue was found before customer shipments began.
Apple recently told other component suppliers to slow production until June. This would suggest that Apple expects Nidec to be producing sufficient supply to ramp Apple Watch production back up around that time. In the meantime, shipping windows have begun to slip into July for a number of models.
The taptic engine fulfills two roles on the Apple Watch: It provides notifications in a fashion designed to be less disruptive than ringing or buzzing and it helps send the wearer’s heartbeat to others.
Source : The Wall Street Journal