Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Japanese ink firm Seiko Advance during his tour of Japan in early December, and he credited the firm for Apple’s ability to offer a Midnight Green iPhone. Seiko Advance manufactures all of the colors used in the iPhone 11 Pro lineup.
Cook said Seiko Advance’s “craftsmanship and attention to detail” is the “reason” there is a Midnight Green and that all the iPhone 11 Pro colors are “gorgeous.”
Now Nikkei Asian Review reports Seiko Advance has shared more details on how Apple and CEO Tim Cook has worked with their firm.
“Cook showed us his attitude to deal with any company with high technology,” said Yukinori Kabe, Seiko Advance sales manager. “However small you are, Apple will be your customer if you have outstanding technology.”
Kabe was sent as his company’s emissary to App when the company requested pitches from ink manufacturers in 2011.
“[Visiting Apple was a] very different world,” he said. “At that time, we found that we couldn’t meet Apple’s high standards.”
Kabe said Apple required its suppliers to meet hundreds of different quality criteria, which Seiko Advance spent four years working toward meeting the criteria, eventually becoming the supplier for the black ink used in the iPhones. The company is now the sole supplier for the colors used in the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.
One thing that gave the Japanese ink firm a leg up was its development of a new ink production method that was cleaner and provided more durable high color-accuracy inks. The company is the only one in the world that utilizes a cleanroom to control temperature and humidity.
