The iPhone Shakes the Consumer Electronics' Industry

While the success of the iPhone is already beyond expectations, it also has direct impact on some sectors of the consumer electronics’ industry. First, the component makers, and especially for touch screen technology, the Japanese company Nitto Denko has reached its production capacity and will not be able to produce larger volume before April 2008 when its second plant will be ready. In the meantime, other sources indicate that Taiwan-based Wintek will be the touch panel supplier of Apple's new iPod video starting shipping for the second half of 2007. The touch panel used for new iPod video will be less complicated than that for Apple current iPhone.
Assembly companies (including Inventec Appliances and Quanta Computer) are aggressively competing to become a partner for iPhone production. Currently, Foxconn is the unique assembly partner for the iPhone, but Apple might need to extend its panel contractors as the European iPhone is planned to be introduced by the end of the year, while Asian iPhone should arrive in Q1 2008. In the meantime, rumors of a potential iPhone nano, or iPhone 3G, could also explain the need to additional assembly partners for Cupertino.
Once more, it demonstrates how the success of Apple products can shake the consumer electronics' industry and strongly impact the life of components, such as the 1.8" HD for the iPod, the flash memory for the iPod nano.