"Several wearable devices such as Apple's iWatch and Qualcomm's Toq are reportedly seeing less than 50% yield rates due to difficulties applying surface treatments on their metal injection molded (MIM) chassis, according to sources from the upstream supply chain," say Lee and Tsai.
That's about all there is to the report.
Now, deep breath. This is a strange report because it's the first we can remember that talks about Apple already manufacturing an iWatch. It's also unusual because if Apple is making an iWatch right now, it's probably early in the manufacturing process, and naturally there are going to be hiccups.
DigiTimes is source of gossipy Asian manufacturing news. Sometimes it's right, sometimes it's wrong. Lately it's been more right than wrong, so we wouldn't just write this off. Sounds like Apple could be moving along in iWatch development.