On Wednesday, Apple supplier ams OSRAM announced it would “re-assess its microLED strategy” after a “cornerstone project” was “unexpectedly cancelled” that day. Following that announcement, the company’s stock plunged precipitously (40%). It is strongly believed that the project the company was referring to was the rumored Apple Watch with a microLED display.
While neither ams Osram nor Apple have ever publicly confirmed that the Austrian firm would supply micro LED displays for the upcoming Apple Watch Ultra 3, past reports have linked the two companies. In 2023 it was reported that the company would see increased revenues in 2025, when the Apple Watch Ultra 3 with the technology was expected to debut.
Apple industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today commented on the situation, and confirmed that Apple has indeed canceled the project for the “foreseeable future.” The analyst said that microLED production costs are currently “too high” for the project to be “economically viable.”
“My latest survey indicates that Apple has canceled the Micro LED Apple Watch projects because Apple thinks that Micro LED can’t add significant value to this product, and the production costs are too high to make it economically viable,” said Kuo.
ams OSRAM was Apple’s exclusive LED chip supplier for the project at the time it was canceled, says Kuo. He says Apple has “no plans” to mass-produce microLED devices for the “foreseeable future.”
Kuo described the cancellation as a “major setback” for Apple, and he said many employees involved with microLED development have been laid off.
While it appears that the project has at the very least been delayed, Apple is still expected to eventually transition to microLED display technology for the Apple Watch Ultra.
