Report: iPad mini with Retina Dispaly May Cost More Than US$12/unit to Build

Digitmes is speculating that base on the manufacturing cost of the current iPad mini, there will be a 30 percent increase in the manufacturing cost if Apple with a Retina Display for the next generation iPad mini.

“Apple may introduce the new iPad mini with resolution of 2,048 by 1536, and that would increase the device’s production cost by more than US$12/unit. If the prices and specifications of all other components stay the same, the new iPad mini with a Retina display will carry component costs above US$200/unit,” Max Wang and Jackie Chang report for Digitimes. “Despite the fact that no one knows when Apple will introduce new tablet products, most believe the new generation of iPad mini will upgrade the resolution from the series’ present 1,024 by 768 to the fourth generation iPad’s 2,048×1,536.”

Max Wang and Jackie Chang:

[quote] According to iSuppli, the price of the 7.9-inch panel is around US$32/unit and the total material cost of entry-level iPad mini is around US$188/unit. If iPad mini adopts the Retina display, the dots per inch (DPI) will be higher and the brightness of the backlight modules will have to improve. This also means the number of LEDs used will increase, and therefore market observers believe the total cost for iPad mini will increase by more than 30% if it is equipped with the 7.9-inch Retina panel.[/quote]

“Samsung and Acer both plan to introduce 8-inch tablets in the second quarter to compete with the iPad mini. Acer’s 8-inch tablet will be priced around NT$6,000/unit (US$202/unit),” according to the report.

Tech Quotes..quotes from the best tech news and writings on the web.