According to foreign media reports, Apple has given up developing Micro LED screens for the Apple Watch. Apple will lay off dozens of employees in its display department.
Previously, Apple chip supplier OSRAM announced that a significant client project had been put on hold, with analysts considering it to be Apple's Micro LED Apple Watch Ultra screen project. Apple no longer has plans to mass produce Micro LED devices.
Apple's previous plan to build cars, which cost billions of dollars, came to an abrupt end. Now, the watch display microLED is no longer available, and core tracks such as artificial intelligence have become Apple's battleground.
Apple abandons the development of Micro LED screens
Member transfer or layoff
According to foreign media reports, Apple has given up developing Micro LED screens for the Apple Watch. The whistleblower stated that Apple has given up searching for new suppliers and has begun restructuring the Micro LED development and engineering team. The development team is mainly located in the United States and Asia. After this adjustment, a small number of members will be transferred to other departments, while the majority will be laid off.
Previously, Apple had invested billions of dollars in developing Micro LED screens, with plans to first apply them to the Apple Watch Ultra.
The news that Apple has abandoned the development of Micro LED screens is not the first time it has been reported. In February of this year, OSRAM, one of Apple's suppliers, announced that a client's "cornerstone project" had been unexpectedly cancelled, when market research firm Counterpoint Research identified it as a Micro LED screen project for the Apple Watch.
In early March, renowned Apple product analyst Guo Minggui posted that Osram was Apple's exclusive supplier of Micro LED chips. The company's cancellation of its Micro LED partnership with Apple means that Apple no longer has plans to mass produce Micro LED devices in the foreseeable future.
Apple smartwatch shipments are declining
Previously, MicroLED was considered the "ultimate display solution". Whether other companies will shrink their related fronts in the event of Apple giving up has become a focus of attention from all sectors. According to a report by Caixin News Agency, Ye Yuqing, the product manager of Zhaochi Crystal Display, believes that due to various factors such as mass production yield and cost, the development of the MicroLED industry has not yet achieved the expected progress.
Guo Minggui believes that the reason for Apple's cancellation of the development plan is that Apple believes that Micro LEDs cannot significantly enhance the added value of the product, coupled with high production costs and lack of investment benefits.
It is understood that Micro LED technology, also known as micrometer light-emitting diodes, is a method of miniaturizing traditional LED structures to 1-10 μ A new technology that uses massive transfer technology to transfer its solid crystal onto a substrate and ultimately package it into a display screen. Compared to traditional LEDs, Micro LED technology is more energy-efficient, has higher contrast, and faster response time; And the color is brighter and better, and there is no risk of burning like OLED.
According to Smart Display, Apple has been researching custom Micro LED display technology for the past decade. According to a research report by Huafu Securities, the Apple Watch Ultra is widely believed to be Apple's first hardware product to use Micro LED displays, and may be used in larger screen sizes such as iPhones, iPads, and Macs in the future.
It is worth noting that the sales performance of Apple watches is not ideal. According to data from market research firm Canalys, in the fourth quarter of 2023, the global market saw a 25% year-on-year decrease in Apple Watch shipments, but still ranked first with a 21% market share.
The decline in Apple Watch shipments has also been confirmed in Apple's financial data. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Apple's wearable devices, home furnishings, and accessories business achieved revenue of $11.953 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 11.3%.
Since the beginning of this year, Apple's stock price has fallen by about 10%.
Daily Economic News Comprehensive from China Securities News, Caixin News, and China Fund News