Suppliers will suffer as the second major Apple division bites the dust.
Following the earlier news of Apple terminating Project Titan, it has now emerged that Apple has also abandoned internal design and development of smartwatch displays, marking the end of an expensive long-term investment project for the company.
Bloomberg reported that Apple has halted the development of Micro LED display technology. These Micro LED displays were initially expected to be used in upcoming generations of Apple Watch products and then gradually introduced into other products.
However, the cost and complexity of independently developing Micro LED displays may have exceeded Apple's initial expectations. It is reported that Apple has restructured its display development team and laid off dozens of employees in the US and Asia.
Suppliers such as ams OSRAM said they will lose Apple's Micro LED-related contracts. The loss of business could force companies to sell factories and lay off employees.
The display development project was part of Apple's push for internal research and development initiatives. Although the company customizes displays for some products, it still heavily relies on partnerships with technology providers such as LG Display (LGD) and Samsung Display (SDC).
Apple hoped that by bringing more design processes in-house, it could gain a competitive advantage in product design. Reports indicate that this display development project, internally referred to as "T159," was initiated by Apple's hardware engineering organization seven years ago,
The project was moved to the display team led by Wei Chen. It was later reassigned to the hardware technology department.
Apple built a display manufacturing facility near its Cupertino headquarters in Santa Clara, California, where hundreds of employees were involved in testing Micro LED display production. Following the project's termination, there were significant layoffs at the Cupertino factory and Apple's Asian Display Engineering Center.
It is understood that Apple hoped that the Apple Watch would be equipped with Micro LED displays by 2020. Subsequent delays pushed this timeline to 2024, 2025, or even later, indicating that Apple encountered development obstacles along the way.
While Micro LED displays offer advantages such as low power consumption, vibrant colors, and thinner profiles, mass production is challenging due to the need for cutting-edge technology and complex LED transfer processes. Despite Apple possessing Micro LED display design and manufacturing processes, it relies on multiple partners to handle tasks such as LED transfer and mass production.
Article translated by Samuel Howarth
