Apple suspends 5K LG panel sales following hardware problems, will ship new displays in 5-6 weeks

By Joel Hruska 

When news broke earlier this winter about a router disruption flaw in LG’s 5K UltraFine panels, Apple initially appeared to take no real notice of the problem. Now, however, the company is responding — by pulling all sales of existing 5K UltraFine stock and putting customers on notice that new hardware won’t ship for another 5-6 weeks.
Business Insider confirmed the situation with Apple, and online availability clearly shows a 5-6 week wait for new stock. LG has previously said that it would overhaul its design and repair the problem, but that new displays wouldn’t be available until the beginning of March. Apple’s ship-date pushes that window back to the end of March or early April, but could reflect either a timeline slip from LG or Apple’s desire to build up a reservoir of product to guarantee quick shipping for all customers rather than tossing displays out the door, first-come, first-served.

Unfortunately, anyone hoping that Apple might step in and convince LG to support its existing devices better is probably going to be waiting a while longer. Text from Apple’s support page reads:
Note: Products sold through this website that do not bear the Apple Brand name are serviced and supported exclusively by their manufacturers in accordance with terms and conditions packaged with the products. Apple’s Limited Warranty does not apply to products that are not Apple-branded, even if packaged or sold with Apple products. Please contact the manufacturer directly for technical support and customer service.
LG, to-date, has issued neither a recall for its broken monitor nor indicated it would stop selling existing stock. Failure to include shielding that would allow its display to function within two feet of a router counts as “broken” in our view, and the company’s willingness to ship substandard merchandise is appalling in a display that normally sells for a four-figure MSRP (Apple’s $974 price is a temporary discount). It isn’t clear if LG is willing to replace the display for specific customers who call up and tell them they physically can’t move the router. But the company clearly isn’t concerned about how this makes its brand look. Given that people have been known to both 1) move and 2) periodically rearrange equipment, it’s entirely possible that someone with a broken display today might not realize that until several years have gone by and the panel is out of warranty.

Some have called for Apple to reenter the display business as a result of this issue, but I’d be surprised if Cook takes that step. Apple knew it had established goodwill and a lock-in relationship with customers who were willing to shuck out top dollar for a Thunderbolt-equipped display that retailed for $1,000 years after its introduction. The financial agreements that made carrying its own panel a good (or bad) deal likely haven’t changed much. Apple has chosen to update its Mac hardware in an offhand and occasional fashion, and the company clearly didn’t see the value in continuing to invest in its own line of routers or displays. LG’s screw-up probably hasn’t changed that calculus.