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Sharp and Apple
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PED has excellent coverage of Peter Misek’s research note from Japan at Apple 2.0.
We believe Apple has shifted display production and that Sharp has now become a large panel supplier, based on our checks. We believe that the Gen 6 Kameyama facility has been exclusively taken over for Apple purposes with Apple purchasing $500M to $1B of equipment for the manufacturing of iPad 3 and iPhone 5 LTE displays.
We believe production of iPad 3 displays began two weeks ago and is the cause of much of the noise in the supply chain.
We believe that Apple and Sharp together have a modified IGZO (indium, gallium, zinc) technology to achieve 330 dpi, which is sufficient for an HD display while not using IPS nor having to include dual-bar LED backlighting. In our view, this should lead to several design advantages, namely the device can be thinner, battery life should be longer, and the overall experience for users should be meaningfully improved.So we have what appears to be confirmation of two older event. During Apple’s CC call back in Feb, “During the September and December quarters, we executed long-term supply agreements with three vendors through which we expect to spend a total of approximately $3.9 billion in inventory component prepayment and capital expenditures over a two-year period. We made approximately $650 million in payments under these agreements in the December quarter, and anticipate making $1.05 billion in payments in the March quarter”. At the time Reuters ran a story about an investment in Sharp
Apple will shoulder a large portion of the 100 billion yen investment and buy most of the panels produced by Sharp, which has supplied LCD panels for Apple’s iPod touch music player, the paper reported.
Sharp will start installing equipment next year at a Mie Prefecture plant and mass production is slated to begin in the latter half of 2012, it said.
In April Sharp made an announcement on Oxide TFT
IGZO offers the potential of low cost and electron mobilities of 10-30X those of a-Si. Higher electron mobility can be used to reduce device size and increase aperture ratio, enhance electronic device integration on to the glass, increase TFT speed, ultra high definition (UD) displays like 4K ? 2K at 240 Hz, and is sufficient to drive AMOLED pixels.
Most of the coverage has focused on the high resolution aspect of this new technology, but for us investors IGZO has two other very important features. Low Cost and Electronic Device Integration. Apple was recently awarded a patent on integrated touch screen. They have a number of patents for integrating different functions onto the glass and IGZO will enable this system on glass functionality. If Apple can incorporate the touch panel onto the LCD substrate the will simplify the manufacturing and reduce the cost of future iPads and iPhones.
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This to me is the biggest news for Apple since they announced their own ARM chips and liquid metal patents.
Folks the future is in Apple’s court more then ever. They have the technology and money to keep everyone at bay for at least a decade.
A $200 discounted iPad 2 in March will prevent competition from attempting to catch up. A thinner, faster, and lighter iPad 3 will sell like hotcakes.
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I agree with the Abrorbent One.
This is a terrific example of Apple using strategic partnerships, powered by the cash, emboldened by a culture of vision. Very exciting
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AAPL: to boldly go where no stock has gone before
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I agree with the Abrorbent One.
This is a terrific example of Apple using strategic partnerships, powered by the cash, emboldened by a culture of vision. Very exciting
Absorbent One! Lovely!
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I agree with the Abrorbent One.
This is a terrific example of Apple using strategic partnerships, powered by the cash, emboldened by a culture of vision. Very exciting
Absorbent One! Lovely!
I believe Mercel was the one who first gave the Sponge that moniker.
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AAPL: to boldly go where no stock has gone before
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Speaking of absorbent one and displays has anyone else noticed the huge improvement on the 4S in fingerprint smudge resistance? This is the sort of detail that only Apple worries about. I know that the issue was referenced at launch, but no one has made a big deal about it.
I have an iPad 1 and the new 4S and the 4S coating appears to be a huge improvement. The coating must not absorb contaminants to the same degree as prior coatings.
This is a nit compared to the rest of what this thread suggests, but overall these advancements show the benefit of focus and obsessiveness regarding the overall customer experience, that only Apple appears to get.
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Neat point Lstream. I greatly value Apple’s human engineering, and indeed, this is precisely the level of detail that makes things truly usable,
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Yet again, I’m reminded of this video. The first 1/3 portrays how current and future devices might be integrated with normal daily activities. TV and lighting integration with your watch, iPhone and iPad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrzeiUvDZog
In the depicted setup, where should the microphone reside? In the TV, of course.
And I must say, I’ve been wearing my iPod Nano as a watch for over a year. It is high time it gets bluetooth and/or wifi. Accepting notifications from iCloud, or pushing a phone number & voice command to other devices are just a few possible use cases. Can’t wait.
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Use your powers for good.
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Gregg Thurman
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This to me is the biggest news for Apple since they announced their own ARM chips and liquid metal patents.
Folks the future is in Apple’s court more then ever. They have the technology and money to keep everyone at bay for at least a decade.
A $200 discounted iPad 2 in March will prevent competition from attempting to catch up. A thinner, faster, and lighter iPad 3 will sell like hotcakes.
But will the market reward Apple for its vision, execution, market share gains and rapidly expanding EPS, that is the question.
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You can’t do more, make more, be more, than the next guy, if you think like the next guy. Think different.
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AndrewLing
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Yes this finally looks like the real deal. Been waiting for this news for a year. This is a technology that will prove extenuating tough for competitors to match and allow apple to once again differentiate their product to reclaim the high end.
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This to me is the biggest news for Apple since they announced their own ARM chips and liquid metal patents.
Folks the future is in Apple’s court more then ever. They have the technology and money to keep everyone at bay for at least a decade.
A $200 discounted iPad 2 in March will prevent competition from attempting to catch up. A thinner, faster, and lighter iPad 3 will sell like hotcakes.
I highly doubt Apple would sell the ipad2 with a $200 discount because there would be NO profit left at that point. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a small-modest discount.
I see this move to Sharp as another salvo in the Sammy war. They’re GOING down!!!
cheers to the longs
[ Edited: 26 November 2011 11:00 AM by johnG ]
JohnG -
Gregg Thurman
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Yes this finally looks like the real deal. Been waiting for this news for a year. This is a technology that will prove extenuating tough for competitors to match and allow apple to once again differentiate their product to reclaim the high end.
I wasn’t aware they ever lost it.
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You can’t do more, make more, be more, than the next guy, if you think like the next guy. Think different.
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capablanca
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But will the market reward Apple for its vision, execution, market share gains and rapidly expanding EPS, that is the question.
Like they reward Johnson’s JC Penny? 34 trailing PE and 19.5 forward PE.
Maybe Apple should be selling pillow cases, shoes, and mascara.
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But will the market reward Apple for its vision, execution, market share gains and rapidly expanding EPS, that is the question.
Like they reward Johnson’s JC Penny? 34 trailing PE and 19.5 forward PE.
Maybe Apple should be selling pillow cases, shoes, and mascara.
LOLThe market will reward us and AAPL. Be patient. When our economy really starts to turn around end of 2013-2014, we will see 18-25 p/e.
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But will the market reward Apple for its vision, execution, market share gains and rapidly expanding EPS, that is the question.
Like they reward Johnson’s JC Penny? 34 trailing PE and 19.5 forward PE.
Maybe Apple should be selling pillow cases, shoes, and mascara.
LOLThe market will reward us and AAPL. Be patient. When our economy really starts to turn around end of 2013-2014, we will see 18-25 p/e.
Ever the optimist… by the way, what’s your sign?
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Scorpio Baby!!!!
