Faulty taptic engine slows Apple Watch roll out
Faulty taptic engine slows Apple Watch roll out
By Daisuke Wakabayashi and Lorraine Luk
Published: Apr 29, 2015 4:41 p.m. ET
A key component of the Apple Watch made by one of two
suppliers was found to be defective, prompting Apple Inc. to limit the
availability of the highly anticipated new product, according to people
familiar with the matter.
The part involved is the so-called taptic engine,
designed by Apple to produce the sensation of being tapped on the wrist. After
mass production began in February, reliability testing revealed that some
taptic engines supplied by AAC Technologies Holdings Inc., of Shenzhen, China,
started to break down over time, the people familiar with the matter said. One
of those people said Apple scrapped some completed watches as a result.
Taptic engines produced by a second supplier, Japan’s
Nidec Corp., didn’t experience the same problem, the people said. Apple has
moved nearly all of its production of the component to Nidec, these people
said, but it may take time for Nidec to increase its production.
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