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Apple may be choosing TPK as a touch panel supplier for its rumored iWatch, says a report in China Times (Via Digitimes). The Taiwan-based company will supposedly begin mass production of flexible AMOLED panels for the iWatch in the second half of 2014.
The report said the iWatch will come equipped with a flexible AMOLED display and 3D protective glass. The rumors also speculated that the iWatch will use silver nanowire touch screen technology developed by TPK in conjunction with Japan-based Nissha Printing.
The rumor suggests Apple will use silver nanowire touch screen technology in the iWatch display. Current flat touch panels use indium tin oxide (ITO), which is brittle and not suitable for a flexible display. Silver nanowires, however, are nanometers thin and can be applied to a 3D curved glass surface, like a watch band in a solution-based, roll-to- printing technique. The silver wire matrix is transparent to the eye and conductive, making silver nanowires perfect for a flexible touchsreen display.
Last year, TPK signed a deal with Japanese firm Nissha Printing to start producing silver nanowire touchscreen displays. Production will ramp up in Q2 2014, with a manufacturing output of two million 6-inch touch panels per month.
TPK is among the world's top touch panel manufacturers by volume and has been supplying Apple with panels for several years. The Taiwanese company was one of the primary suppliers of the touchscreen for the original iPad and provided up to 80% of the panels for the iPhone 4S models.
Top Rated Comments
Well watches, in recent times, have become more of a fashion statement.
As someone who owns a pebble, I will always own a smartwatch going forward. I get several notifications daily that I need, but do not need to respond to. Not having to pull my phone out to see that notification is a huge benefit!
You have
desktop > laptop > tablet > smartphone >watch> glass hole
Seems like a lot of overlap. Tablets are already cannibalizing laptop sales despite being less productive (unless you like microtransaction games). Will watches cannibalize smartphone sales? That would be my biggest fear in a world where digital devices are over-saturated.
Well no, my biggest fear would be of teachers forcing students to remove iWatches before tests then students' parents successfully suing because forced-removal of heart rate monitors is a violation of constitutional rights. Public education in the US and Europe is already nigh on meaningless.
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
- Arthur Schopenhauer
Not surprisingly, Apple's most revolutionary products went through these stages: Mac, iPhone and iPad.
Well.... That was quite the analogy
I never liked wearing watches, even before mobile phones became commonplace. I'd rely on public clocks or time displays on machines to find out the time as I just found watches irritating on my wrist.
Before the iPhone came out I could not think how Apple could improve upon a BlackBerry but as soon as the iPhone was released everything seemed so obvious.
So I'm personally not interested in medical sensors, I'm not interested in a more convenient way to tell the time or interact with my smart phone.
Now Apple - will you make things interesting for me?