Chinese website DigiTimes reports that Apple’s upcoming iPhone will adopt in-cell touch panels this year. These touch panels are said to be produced by Sharp and Toshiba Mobile Display and their production is said to began in the second quarter of this year. These new panels will help Apple in making the new iPhone thinner than the iPhone 4S.
DigiTimes‘ sources note
An improvement in yield rates of the in-cell touch panels at Sharp and TMD has persuaded Apple to choose to cooperate with Japan-based panel makers, the sources noted.
On a related note, DisplaySearch analyst David Hsieh has seperately told FocusTaiwan that Apple might use in-cell technology from Japanese display makers including Sony, Toshiba, and Sharp. The difference between in-cell touch panels and usual touch panels is that, unlike the usual touch panels in in-cell panels the touch sensors are placed inside the color filters rather than on top of them. This allows the in-cell touch panels to be thinner.
[DigiTimes via AppleInsider and FocusTaiwan]
