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BlackBerry-maker RIM has been forced to delay the firm’s PlayBook tablet PC due to supply chain shortages.
Touch screen panels are apparently in short supply, according to a DigiTimes report, with the iPad 2 having "booked up most of the available supply," they said.
The industry analysts first revealed in February that large Apple manufacturing orders would lead to a touch panel shortage as the iPad maker swallowed 60 per cent of the world’s supply.
However the recent report is the first indication that a major tablet has been forced to delay due to Apple’s voracious appetite for parts.
Tablets and notebook manufacturer is undertaken by contract to just a handful of large ODMs while components are also sourced from common suppliers.
The DigiTimes pointed out that connector specialist Foxlink supplied parts for the iPad and the PlayBook, with connectors only now being shipped for the new RIM tablet.
RIM tasked ODM manufacturer Quantum to build the new PlayBook. Quanta showed off Android-based tablets at CES which were widely expected to appear under other brands but the firm was recently spotted submitting an own-brand Android tablet for FCC approval in the US.
