LG Display is now seeking compensation from Apple after it canceled a project to develop a screen made with microLED technology for the Apple Watch…
Apple’s shift in strategy: the cancellation of the MicroLED project
Earlier this year it was reported that Apple canceled plans for a microLED Apple Watch. Apple had originally planned for microLED, a display with brighter, more vivid visuals that would have been utilized in future versions of Apple’s smartwatch, but the cost and complexity of the endeavor proved to be too great.
International Electronic Commerce has learned that when Apple conceived its microLED plans a few years ago, it considered the technology to be the successor to the current standard organic LED screen (OLED). The company expects to eventually roll out microLED to all of its products, from the Apple Watch to the iPhone to the Mac.
While the company has customized the displays for its products, they are largely based on designs from partners like LG Display and Samsung SDI.
Back in 2018, the company expected to be able to equip the Apple Watch with a screen as early as 2020. But that timeline was eventually pushed back to 2024, then 2025 and beyond.
In the same way that OLED displays have advantages over LCD displays, microLEDs have advantages over other current display technologies, including OLEDs, being thinner, consuming less energy, being brighter outdoors, and being able to be used in curved and folded devices. While microLED screens have many advantages, they are difficult to produce in quantity. Manufacturing them requires cutting-edge technology and a complex process called LED transport (placing pixels in the display). Although Apple owns the design and manufacturing process for microLED screens, it has recruited a number of partners to handle tasks such as mass production and LED transfer.
Potential compensation and industry implications
Now that Apple has canceled its Micro LED Apple Watch program, LG Display, a supplier that was to produce key components for this Micro LED Apple Watch, is seeking compensation from Apple to recoup costs associated with panel testing and production.
According to a report by The Elec cited by a number of foreign media, LG Display is trying to seek compensation from Apple after the latter canceled its Micro LED Apple Watch program, causing it to lose a lot of money.
LG Display’s MicroLED investment and challenges
LG Display has spent billions of won to prepare for the microLED display on Apple’s Apple Watch and has invested heavily in the never-before-seen project, according to reports. The supplier purchased 14 patents in the U.S. to secure the technology from China’s Taiwan-based Ultra Display, and so far the full cost has not been paid.
Additionally, LG Display dedicated a team to the project, and it’s unclear whether that team was reorganized or forced to resign after the project was canceled. The company also moved its facilities from Gumi, Gyeongsangbuk-do, to Paju, Gyeonggi province.
Apple has not realized the economic viability of the new display technology despite its obvious advantages over standard OLED panels, which are still superior to LCD displays. Compared to traditional OLED panels microLED panels are brighter and more color accurate, but they are also much more expensive, which could also raise the price of the Apple Watch.
Apple is expected to begin its microLED transition with the Apple Watch, and once the technology has progressed in terms of production and cost, it will port it over to its iPhone and iPad lines. It’s unclear whether the company is abandoning microLED displays permanently or saving the technology for later.
For LG Display is seeking compensation from Apple for development and additional costs, it remains to be seen how the latter will respond to these allegations and whether any compensation will be made.
Some industry insiders said that although it is not clear whether there is a prior agreement between Apple and LG Display in the cooperation of microLED screen millet, but in the current situation, Apple in the absence of an order to LG Display, there is no responsibility in the law, and LG Display due to the cancellation of the project is unlikely to receive compensation. However, because LG Display is also the main supplier of Apple’s iPhone OLED display, in order to maintain the supply chain relationship between the two sides, Apple may subsequently increase the price paid to LG Display for iPhone and iPad OLED screens as compensation.
