In an article published by Taipei Times, they break the news that according to IDC analyst, Annabelle Hsu, Apple is preparing to manufacture micro LED displays by the end of 2017 and entering into mass production in 2018. The factory is located in Taiyuan, Taiwan and has been an Apple factory since at least 2015 according to the article. These displays would be used in some of Apple’s wearable devices.
Analyst Comment
While this is an unconfirmed article, it would make sense for Apple to take the micro LED display technology to their Apple Watch product to give them a significant market advantage based on the expected longer battery life. Besides the general work on micro LED displays all over the world, this could mean that Apple is significantly ahead of everyone else in this technology field. When we assume that the report is at least describing Apple’s intention correctly and forget whether this actually happens in 2017, 2018 or 2019, it still marks an interesting trend reversal. So far, vertically integrated display and CE product makers have tried hard to either get rid of their display manufacturing assets or separate them into standalone companies that market their products to all CE makers. Apple would be the first CE device maker in a long time to try to use in house developed display technology as a selling point for their devices. (NH)
