Amazon's upcoming tablets might face component supply shortages due to the iPad 2

It's already public knowledge that Amazon is working on subsidized Android tablets with its own branding, and was about to launch them in August or September. We got a tip last month that these might be a quad-core endeavor, under the codename Hollywood, and an entry level Coyote, with a dual-core chipset.

What remains hidden, however, is that Apple has prepaid for and occupied the lion's share of tablet component supplies, especially touchscreen components. Our shaky source for all things Taiwanese and component related DigiTimes reports that Amazon's plans to build 4 million units this year might be in jeopardy due to the contracts suppliers have with Apple, which don't leave them much spare capacity for other projects. The same thing happened with the BlackBerry PlayBook, which was possibly delayed with a month because Apple had corralled most component suppliers capacity for its own gizmos.

The initial batch of Amazon's tablets is pegged at 1.5-2 million, and that might be all there is to it for this year, if alternative capacity isn't secured in the second half. Early rumors suggested that the dual-core tablet will be with a chipset of the NVIDIA variety, but now Texas Instruments is also being mentioned in connection with Amazon's upcoming slates.

via AppleInsider

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