One possible cause of iPad 2 shortages in recent weeks may have been identified. LG Display, one of Apple's leading suppliers of 9.7-inch touch screen LCD panels for the media tablet, was having a light leakage problem with its panels in the first quarter, according to a DigiTimes report.
LGD has fixed the problem, the Taiwan-based tech journal reported Friday. The company was formerly the top touch screen panel supplier to Apple, but was outpaced by Samsung in the first quarter due to the light leakage issue.
Samsung shipped four million iPad panels in the first three months of the year, while LGD shipped 3.2 million units, according to DigiTimes. The two South Korean companies are the largest makers of LCD panels in the world, with more than 50 percent of the market combined.
The iPad 2 debuted in the U.S. on March 11. Apple expanded availability to dozens more countries throughout March and April. The iPad 2 launched in South Korea on April 29 but suppliers had already run out of the device within a week.
Since its launch, Apple hasn't been able to keep up with demand for the iPad 2. The company reported a decline in iPad sales in its most recent earnings report. Apple sold 4.69 million iPads in the last quarter, a sharp decline from the 7.33 million iPads sold during the fourth quarter of 2010, though that included the peak holiday sales season.
In Apple's most recent earnings call, chief operating officer Tim Cook said the company faces "the mother of all backlogs" with the iPad 2.
Aside from the touch screen LCD panel shortage, a shortage in the iPad 2's new speaker has been blamed for a lack of available devices.
With additional reporting by Leslie Horn.