Samsung Facing AMOLED And Chip Shortages Amid Production Line Delays

Samsung Mobile Display's 5.5-Gen AMOLED production line – previously expected to begin manufacturing of 7-inch tablet displays, such as the Super AMOLED demonstrated in a Galaxy Tab prototype, this year – is likely to suffer up to three months of delays before become operational, due to supply limitations. According to MK, Japanese suppliers are still encountering issues meeting their orders in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami, with the potential to impact components Samsung provides to Apple.

"If the situation lasts long, operation schedules would have to be changed. Analysts say operations of Japanese equipment plants could be suspended for one month at the shortest to three months at the longest, if the quake effects remain longer" Samsung Mobile Display spokesperson

The problems are also impacting chip production at Samsung Electronics, who have seen vital components in the manufacturing process – such as CVD (chemical vapor deposition) hardware used to produce thin films – become unavailable since they are produced in Japan. As well as infrastructure issues, Japanese manufacturers are also dealing with temperamental power supplies.

No exact Samsung chips have been named as affected by the delays, though the Giheung plant is known to provide large numbers of Apple A4 processors along with Samsung's own Hummingbird variant. 50-percent of the Giheung plant's 40,000 chip-sheets per month are believed to go direct to Apple.

[via OLED-Display]