According to the Wall Street Journal, the disruption in the activities of a relatively unknown Japanese chemical company could undermine Apple's production plans. Kureha manufactures 70% of polyvinylidene fluoride (polyvinylidene fluoride, or PVDF) consumed in the world, which is an essential compound in the production of lithium batteries like those used in iPods (the report by WSJ but did not mention, iPhones, iPads or MacBooks, which also use this type of component).
With the March 11 earthquake / tsunami, Kureha was forced to close its facilities in Iwaki and would now have plans to accelerate the internationalization of its PVDF production, expanding it to the United States and China, where it already has factories installed. .
Due to the concentration of high-tech industries in Japan, the natural disaster that plagued the country also raised serious concerns about the supply of electronic components worldwide, which seriously affected the stock market. Initially, it was feared by NAND flash memory stocks, but this list was later expanded to various types of materials. Despite the optimism of some analysts about the prolonged effects of the disaster on the supply of components, it is already said that Apple would be willing to pay more to immediately compensate for possible supply shortages.
(via AppleInsider)
