Posts Tagged ‘shortage’
Winter Is Coming: The Great iPhone Cable Shortage Of 2012
Author: Natalie Wood
How many iOS charger cables do you own? You know, the 30-pin connector that’s been packaged alongside every iPod, iPhone and iPad for as long as I can remember. Personally, I own seven. Each of my friends and colleagues has (at the very least) more than one of these wires. Essentially, if you’ve owned an iThing for more than a few months, especially an iPhone, you probably own more than one cable, too.
But the next-gen iPhone, and its 8-pin mini port, will change more than the iThing accessories industry. Sure, there are millions of docks, charging cases, etc. that will have trouble with this transition. But Apple will no doubt sell a connector for backwards compatibility, probably for around $ 30. This will cause some confusion with people less well-versed in technology, and it will probably take a couple years to get back to cable/dock ubiquity.
Remember the shift from serial ports to USB ports in computers? That mess took more than a decade to get settled, and PCs shipped with serial ports for a few years after USB was implemented as an industry standard. It’ll be a long road ahead.
But the real issue isn’t the accessories ecosystem, it’s the ubiquity of the current iCable model.
Think of it this way. Last we heard, Apple had sold 167 million iDevices in the U.S., including the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. For the record, that’s about half of the U.S. population. Globally, the company has sold over 365 million iThings. And those are just devices. Now consider the fact that most of those iDevice owners have multiple cables, and that many of them are repeat customers, meaning they have one for each iThing they’ve purchased.
That is a lot of charging cables. And the kicker is that we’ve grown accustomed to this lifestyle. Forgot your charger? No worries. Your friend has one at his house, or your mom has one in her car. Hell, the waitress at the restaurant probably has one.
The other night, I was at dinner with a few friends. One of them reached for his phone, held it out to the waitress, and asked that she plug it in. It wasn’t attached to a charger, but it was an iPhone. To my surprise, she took the phone and plugged it in near the kitchen — an iPhone charger was already ready and waiting for a device to charge.
When the new iPhone launches, there will probably be millions of new iPhone owners in the U.S. within the first few weeks. But for each owner, there will be only one cable. Granted, that little white block that plugs into the wall with a USB port will still work with your new cable, but all your old cables instantly become useless with the new iPhone.
Losing your new 8-pin cable is out of the question, unless you’re clever enough to stock up on iPhone day. Proud fanbois will need to undergo a pretty major adjustment in their mindset, being ever-mindful of their bat-life situation, and remembering to bring a charger with them everywhere.
Remember, the iPhone 4S had some pretty nasty battery life issues, so it’s just plain foolish to think the next iPhone will be any better. In fact, we’ve learned that the iPhone 5 will only get a 10mAh boost from the iPhone 4S battery, at 1440mAh. That’s less than half of the 3300mAh battery in the Droid Razr Maxx, the current heavyweight champion of smartphone batteries.
Then let’s weigh in new Siri capabilities — hopefully the personal assistant will actually be useful, and thus used, this time around. Add to that a 4G LTE radio, which will most certainly be present in the next iPhone, along with more energy efficient tech like NFC and Bluetooth 4, and what are you left with? Really shitty battery life.
But when you’re out in the world, having dinner at a friend’s house, that familiar little white wire probably won’t be there for you anymore. You didn’t think to bring your own cable because you rarely ever had to. And while all your friends are tweeting, Instagramming, and being generally merry, you’ll be staring into your brand new iPhone watching that spinning wheel of death expel the final breaths from your precious.
It sounds like a first world problem. And it is. But I can assure you of this: A month after the iPhone launches, once battery life really begins to wear on people, the number of new iPhone owners will be far greater than one percent.
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Samsung chief: we’re open to a cross-licensing deal with Apple, but 4G chip shortage might last until the fall
Author: Tech Blogger
The at times very heated legal battle between Apple and Samsung might be softening just a bit ahead of truce talks on May 21st. Samsung’s mobile head JK Shin just left Seoul for the mediated discussions saying there were still “several negotiation options” on tap, including the possibility of cross-licensing patents. He warned that there was still a “big gap” between the two sides, and we’d tend to agree — neither Apple nor Samsung is exactly backing off just yet. However, it’s a definite shift in language from March, when Shin was vowing “no compromise,” and it parallels Apple CEO Tim Cook’s own disdain for lawsuits. We just wouldn’t bet money on the two singing “Kumbaya” this week.
In same breath, Shin added that an ongoing 4G chipset shortage wasn’t letting up: he didn’t see things getting better until the start of the fourth quarter, or October for us common folk. That’s a problem for Samsung’s phones and tablets most of all, of course, and in a dire case could see LTE-packing American Galaxy S III variants rely on other vendors’ chips to stay on the 4G bandwagon. There’s also a chance of a ripple effect on other companies that want Samsung’s parts, but short of getting a peek at Samsung’s inner workings, we won’t know the full impact for awhile yet.
Samsung chief: we’re open to a cross-licensing deal with Apple, but 4G chip shortage might last until the fall originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 May 2012 13:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mixed concerns as organic milk shortage felt in Boulder
Author: Brittany Turner
Mixed concerns as organic milk shortage felt in Boulder
More and more, consumers are concerned with the ingredients found in their food, and, as a result, go organic. Food scares in non-organic products also led to a spike in organic product sales. "Once people get on the organic bandwagon, …
Read more on Daily Camera
P&G Announces Second Quarter Results; Delivers 4% Organic Sales Growth, Core …
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Apple-Created Touchscreen Shortage Blamed For RIM PlayBook Delay
Author: Major Workman
Research In Motion—RIM to you and me—was forced to delay the release of its PlayBook tablet because Apple pretty much exhausted the supply of touchscreen displays. The tablet has been delayed for about a year now, so a few extra days probably won’t make too big a difference. And, of course, no tablet other than the iPad matters, so it’s all a bit moot.
The PlayBook will be available on April 19, but unlike the Motorola Xoom it won’t require a second mortgage to finance its purchase. It’ll come in three flavors: 16GB ($ 499), 32GB ($ 599), and 64GB ($ 699). It should also be noted that it “only†has a 7-inch display, but I could have sworn I’ve seen threads online wherein people wish there was a smaller version of the iPad, the current size being a tad too big to comfortably tote about town without constantly being reminded, “Oh, yeah, I’ve got this thing with me.â€
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AMOLED shortage to become a surplus in 2011
Author: Major Workman
Samsung’s beautiful Super AMOLED panels are becoming more and more common in mobile devices, but they’re not as common as they could be if there were more of the things flying out of Samsung Mobile Display factories. Predictably that’s set to change in 2011, with SMD planning to fulfill its promise and bring another production facility online, while other competitors in Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore will ramp up their own AMOLED facilities in the coming year. Meanwhile, China is said to be working on its OLED supply chain as well, meaning those displays of the passive matrix variety will also be flying off of assembly lines soon. So, 2011 may still not be the year of a chicken in every pot, but it could be the year of glowy organic goo in every smartphone.
AMOLED shortage to become a surplus in 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 28 Nov 2010 15:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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White iPhone Spotted In The Wild, Shortage Caused by “Problem With Buttonsâ€
Author: Tech Blogger
Our buddy Sal at Geek.com spotted this white iPhone in the wild. It belonged to someone who had a buddy at Apple.
Why aren’t they making white iPhones? Apparently the manufacturers can’t get the white button to match the white case. Clearly we need to get Greg on the case.
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iPhone 4 shortage hits Chinese stores
Author: Antonio Pierce
iPhone 4 shortage hits Chinese stores
Stores in China have begun reporting to sell out the iPhone 4 two days after the device went on sale
Read more on Macworld
China Unicom Sells 100,000 IPhone 4s in First Four Days
China Unicom has sold close to 100,000 iPhone 4s in the four days since the device was launched in China.
Read more on PC World via Yahoo! News
iPhone app eliminates waiting in checkout line
The iPhone as cash register. Most of us have had a chance to use self-checkout systems at stores like Home Depot , Shaw’s, and CVS by now. At some places, they’re popular enough that there’s no difference between the length of the cashier’s queue and the self-checkout queue. iPhone – Home Depot – Cash register – Concurrent Versions System – iPhone 3G
Read more on Boston Globe
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AMOLED shortage threatens Android supply lines
Author: Alexander McQueen
AMOLED shortage threatens Android supply lines
An AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode) shortage is threatening to “slow” the Android-Allied offensive against Apple’s iPhone and its entrenched AMLCD technology. read more
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Apple: No White iPhones for at Least Three Weeks
Author: Brittany Turner
Those of you still holding out for a white iPhone 4 are going to have to be mighty patient. Citing manufacturing problems, Apple has officially stated that the white version of the sellout new iPhone won’t be in stores for another three weeks. Here’s the entire, short press release:
White models of Apple’s new iPhone 4 have proven more challenging to manufacture than expected, and as a result they will not be available until the second half of July. The availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected.
My assumption had been that Apple has just switched all production over to the black handset just to keep up with the extraordinary demand. Now it would seem that there is some problem with making the glass case white.
This may be similar to an issue with the old iBook of several years ago. These were made from clear polycarbonate and painted on the inside, presumably to avoid scratches. The trouble was that the paint wasn’t always applied so well. One of mine had a rather patchy finish.
Still, at least now we know how long it will be, and those who want the white iPhone can choose to wait or just change their mind and get a black one. But then, it wouldn’t be a surprise if you had to wait until mid-July for one of those, too.
Statement by Apple on White iPhone 4 [Apple]
See Also:
- Apple’s iPhone 4 Launch Draws Huge Crowds Worldwide
- First iPhone 4 Reviews Mostly Sing Its Praises
- IPhone 4 Retina Display Suffering from Discolored 'Blobs'
- IPhone 4 Loses Reception When Antenna Band is Touched
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Apple: No White iPhones for at Least Three Weeks
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Tags: Apple, launch-draws, loses-reception, MID, Phone, phones, production-over, retina-display, shortage, White | 
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