OSRAM, a key supplier of microLED technologies, has announced today that an unnamed customer has unexpectedly canceled a “cornerstone project.” While OSRAM does not explicitly name Apple in its press release, the project likely refers to its efforts to develop a microLED display for the Apple Watch.
As a result of the project’s sudden cancelation, OSRAM is reevaluating its entire microLED strategy. This might suggest that Apple is outright canceling its microLED development project rather than revising its plans for the nascent display technology. OSRAM also indicates that it could sell its microLED production plant in Malaysia which was rumored to have been built specifically for Apple’s microLED displays.
While OSRAM indicates that it’s still in discussions with the unnamed customer, it’s unlikely that it will be able to sway Apple from reversing the apparent cancelation of its microLED efforts. An earlier report from The Elec named OSRAM as an important supply chain partner for Apple in developing its microLED aspirations, including others like Epistar, LG Display, TSMC, and ITRI. Apple may have axed OSRAM from the project while still working on it with other partners, but OSRAM’s microLED expertise appears to be currently unparalleled by any other supplier.
Apple was rumored to have been affected by multiple delays for the first Apple Watch model with a microLED display. The company initially sought a release date as soon as this year before being pushed back to 2025. The most recent report stated that due to supply chain issues and a prohibitively expensive production cost per panel, Apple was unlikely to release a microLED Apple Watch before 2026 at the earliest.
OLED and microLED are distinct display technologies. MicroLED utilizes microscopic LEDs as individual pixels, providing advantages such as superior contrast, higher brightness, improved efficiency, and a longer lifespan. However, the complex and costly manufacturing process of microLED makes it challenging for Apple to mass-produce the technology at scale for its devices.
In contrast, OLED displays are organic, which makes them susceptible to degradation over time and prone to burn-in issues. This is not observed in microLED displays because they use inorganic materials. The Apple Watch is the ideal platform for Apple to test out new display technologies owing to its small display size and relatively low production numbers.
Apple ultimately planned to move all of its products to use a microLED display, a project it began working on with its acquisition of LuxVue a decade ago. It’s currently unclear the direction Apple will take with microLED following the apparent cancelation of its Apple Watch project, but the technology might one day make its way to Vision Pro and eventually AR glasses.
