Report: Apple Watch Customers May Face Longer Waits After Faulty Component Delays Shipments

Because it wouldn’t be an Apple product without some kind of hubbub over a wait or delay involved, a new report says some shipments of the Apple Watch will take a while after one of two suppliers made a faulty component.

That means that Apple will have to limit how many watches are out there for sale, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing insiders in the know.

This isn’t just your garden variety component, if there is such a thing — the taptic engine is the piece of the watch that makes it feel like you’re being tapped gently on the wrist, a feature Apple thinks is superior to a ding or a ring or a vibration.

A play on the word “haptic,” (technology that delivers a physical sensation) the taptic engines were being made by two companies when reliability testing revealed that some of the parts supplied by AAC Technologies Holdings in China were breaking down over time.

Apple reportedly tossed completed watches because of the problem, and is likely to move all manufacturing of the taptic engines to the other company, Nidec Corp. of Japan. The engines made by Nidec reportedly didn’t show the same issue.

There won’t be a recall because it appears at this point that Apple hasn’t shipped any watches with a fault taptic engine to customers.

“Our team is working to fill orders as quickly as possible based on available supply and the order in which they were received,” Apple told the WSJ in a statement. “We know many customers are still facing long lead times and we appreciate their patience.”

It isn’t clear how much the wonky taptic engines contributed to limited availability, though the spokesperson added that “we will be able to get customers the model they want earlier and faster by taking orders online.”

Apple Watch: Faulty Taptic Engine Slows Rollout [Wall Street Journal]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist