Waiting For Apple's 11-Inch OLED iPad Pro? Brace Yourself For A Possible Shortage
In a recent X post for paid subscribers, supply chain analyst Ross Young states that production of the 11-inch iPad Pro "looks to be behind" the 12.9-inch version. Part of the cause of this delay is said to be due to its supply of OLED panels. For the initial batch of OLED-equipped iPads, Cupertino has also drafted LG Display to produce panels for both iPad Pro models alongside Samsung that is currently manufacturing displays for the 11-inch model as well.
Even so, Young says that production has fallen behind. LG is currently focused on OLED panels for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which could lead to a short supply of 11-inch panels for final assembly. Ultimately, consumers could see a greater availability of the larger iPad versus the smaller model. Apple expects the supply to stabilize once LG Display gets caught up.
In a way, supply shortages at launch isn't a complete surprise—iPhones have a history of the same "problem" and it all could just boil down to marketing strategy. Having low availability of the 11-inch iPad Pro can have a two-sided effect in terms of sales. Firstly, buyers who just have to have the latest and great Apple product might just skip the wait and fork up for the more expensive model. Secondly, sometimes a (highly anticipated) product in short supply may drive the hype up even more, which serves as free organic marketing.
This could help mask the possibility of a major price hike for the new iPads Pros. There are reports saying that prices could sit at $1,500 and $1,800 for the 11-inch and 12.9-inch tablets respectively. We hope that's not true, but regardless, what folks are excited about is the OLED displays, which is expected to trump the current mini-LEDs in punchiness, weight, battery life, and color accuracy.
