Touch panel shipments may drop to make way for next iPhone

A few weeks ago, the Internet was flooded with various reports of the next iPhone and this is usually the case before any Apple product launch. There have been rumours surrounding the panels that Apple would use for the next iPhone aka iPhone 5 - with an analyst making a graph detailing how the next iPhone would be thinner if it uses the in-cell touch panel technology that the brand is highly believed to use. At the time the report indicated that the upcoming flagship smartphone from Apple would be 2mm thinner than the current generation iPhone 4S. This feat would address the competition as a growing number of smartphones are launched with a size between 7mm to just below 8mm. The latest rumour added to the already long list of iPhone 5 news is a report by Digitimes, which states that since the brand is moving to in-cell touch panel technology for their next iPhone, the shipments of touch panels from TPK Holding and Wintek will drop by this quarter of 2012.

In-cell touch panels to be used on upcoming iPhone

As per the report, sources have informed them, “TPK Holding and Wintek are expected to see their shipments of touch panels for iPhones decline 15-20% sequentially in the second quarter, as iPhone 4S is moving into the final stage of its product life cycle, and Apple is likely to adopt in-cell touch solutions for its next-generation model.” The report goes on to read, “The adoption of in-cell touch, which results in the touch layer becoming part of the panel rather than an independent module, will mean that touch module suppliers such as TPK and Wintek will be no longer able to receive touch module orders for the next-generation iPhone.”

From the looks of it, it appears that the use of in-cell touch panels may indeed be present on the upcoming iPhone. Other rumours surrounding that next iPhone include it having a metal back that will not be curved, but instead will resemble that found on the MacBook Pro and a smaller dock connector featuring 16-pins as opposed to the 30-pin connector that is used on present iOS devices.