Well here is an ouch for Apple; according to a report the new touch screen panel for the iPhone 5 could have a defect in many of them. According to the report that DigiTimes saw (through a source) the defect appears after lamination and is called a delayed bubble defect. The good news is that this defect appears during production and is easy to spot before the panels ship. Another good bit of news for Apple and WinTek (the company that is having the issue) is that this defect can be sorted fairly quickly and easily.

Now, if this defect cannot be fixed there is still hope. Currently WinTek is only producing between 20-25% of the panels that will be used in the new iPhone. Initial shipnents would be hindered but that type of delay is easy to spin into a positive with statements like “We are selling them as fast as we can make them” or “Demand was so high, we ran out of all of the initial production units”. You get the picture here I am sure.

Still, a delay in the launch of the iPhone would not be good for Apple. Consumers are still talking about the year-long delay to get a white iPhone4 to market. If there is any serious delay on the next gen iPhone it could impact consumer confidence in Apple’s ability to produce a product, especially when you add in the other problems with the iPhone 4 during its launch (Grip of Death, etc).

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