According to a new report from IHS iSuppli on Tuesday, the recent explosion at a Foxconn factory could result in iPad 2 production losses for Apple. Despite reassurances from the manufacturer that production will not be affected — most iPad 2 units are built at Foxconn’s Shenzhen plant, which was not the site of the explosion — IHS iSuppli believes that “[Foxconn's] view is dependent on a return to full production pending the results of an investigation.” If there’ are any delays, ...

According to Business Insider, a report from FBR analyst Craig Berger claims that Apple’s goal of producing 40-45 million iPads is “out of reach.” Apple’s current second-quarter production target is 6.2 million iPad units, but that may not be possible due to production issues with Hon Hai, Berger said. As a result, actual iPad production could drop to 5.2 million units during the third quarter. Similarly, Berger argues that Apple may face production issues from the March earthquake in ...

DigiTimes is reporting that sources at upstream component makers have said Apple’s popular iPhone 4 and iPad 2 products could be facing a shortage of materials as well as labor at Foxconn plants in China for the second quarter.Commenting on the rumor, Foxconn only emphasized that the company’s capacity is being arranged fully at the request of its clients and the company will do all it can to satisfy its clients’ needs; however, the company declined to comment whether the labor shortages wil...

Sony Ericsson released a statement on Friday delaying the broader launch of the Xperia Neo until the third quarter due to supply chain disruptions caused by the earthquake in Japan. The firm said that volumes of its Xperia arc and Xperia PLAY were also affected, but it doesn’t appear that there are any delays with those launches. Sony Ericsson’s official statement is as follows:As Sony Ericsson continues to assess the impact of the situation in Japan on its business, we have communicated to our op...

Research In Motion will finally launch its anticipated BlackBerry PlayBook tablet on April 19th, though most had initially expected it to reach consumers well before that date. According to a new report from DigiTimes, Apple may have been behind the rumored delays. The report states that RIM’s touch panel supplier, Foxlink, was so inundated with display orders from Apple that it wasn’t able to meet RIM’s manufacturing needs on time. “Sources from touch screen panel makers also pointe...

An unconfirmed report from industry watcher DigiTimes suggests Apple may have been forced to reduce its first-quarter iPad production by as much as 50%. The report cites upstream component makers in claiming Apple’s first-quarter iPad 2 production volume has been revised down from between 400,000 and 600,000 units to between 300,000 and 400,000 units. The new lower production targets are allegedly the result of display panel shortages and last-minute specification changes Apple made ahead of production....

Things have heated up quite a bit since Sprint confirmed to us that the Palm Pre is likely to be in short supply when it launches this weekend. As such, if you’re one of the many future Pre addicts who can’t wait to get your hands on Palm’s first webOS-powered device you may want to consider dusting off the old camping gear. According to tinyComb, lines for the Pre are already beginning to form outside Sprint shops. Ok fine — one guy is parked outside one shop rocking a sign that reads...

As the Palm Pre fiiiiiiiiinally nears launch, there has been plenty of talk with regards to supply and demand lately. Is the Pre going to be as popular as everyone thinks? Did production issues prevent Palm from having enough units ready for launch? Are Palm and Sprint shorting deliveries to help ensure a sellout? Here at BGR we’ve gotten some pretty firm intel regarding Best Buy’s stock of Pre handsets at launch, but what about Sprint’s stock? Can we expect similar shortages? The following ...