According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, supply of the Apple Watch has been limited over concerns relating to one of the device’s key components. A significant number of early Apple Watch production models had faulty Taptic Engines inside of them, says the publication.
Production of the component started in February with Chinese firm AAC Technologies Holding Inc taking on the majority of manufacturing duties. However, after the first couple of Taptic Engines started rolling off the assembly line, Apple put them through reliability testing and found that many of them broke after repeated use.
According The Wall Street Journal, Apple told its other supply partners to slow production on the components they were working on while the company tried to find ways to correct the situation.
The Taptic Engine is the component Apple designed to deliver less obtrusive notifications. A motor simulates the sensation of being tapped by gently driving a small rod back and forth against a person’s wrist.
However, it looks like few, if any, of the faulty models made it out to Apple’s customers. The publication updated its report this morning, saying, “Apple doesn’t plan a recall, because there’s no indication that Apple shipped any watches with the defective part to customers.”
I guess we now know why people won’t be able to purchase an Apple Watch from one of the company’s retail locations until June.
[source]The Wall Street Journal[/source][via]9to5 Mac[/via]
