Apple Watch Ultra
Following AppleInsider’s report on Thursday about the likely cancellation of the Apple Watch Ultra with micro LED, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple has abandoned nearly all of its plans to use micro LED displays.
Following news that the micro LED Apple Watch Ultra 3 may be dead, Ming-Chi Kuo is reporting why he believes it’s happened. He also names ams Osram as the supplier, which was previously only suspected and not confirmed by either party.
“My latest investigation indicates that Apple has canceled the development plan for the Micro LED Apple Watch,” wrote Kuo on Twitter/X. “The reason is that Apple believes that Micro LED cannot significantly increase the added value of the product, and the production cost is too high, making it uneconomical to invest.”
Kuo further says that “Apple has laid off many people from the Micro LED development team,” and that “there’s currently no visibility on any Micro LED-related projects.”
There appear to be some oddities in Kuo’s reporting, starting with how he claims that ams Osram cancelled its contract with Apple. Assuming Kuo is correct about which supplier is involved, it appears that the reverse was true — and brutal.
The CEO of ams Osram, while saying only that an unnamed client had cancelled, told press that “the shock is still deep.”
Second, Kuo describes the cancellation as “undoubtedly a major setback for Apple.” It’s only a setback for ams Osram — which reportedly has built a purpose-made $1.41 billion factory in Malaysia to service Apple.
Kuo’s argument is that Apple “hopes to master next-generation display technology to enhance product competitiveness.” But this follows his saying Apple doesn’t think micro LED can add enough value to the Apple Watch Ultra to make it worth the investment.
The cancellation is a smaller-scale repeat of Apple’s ending of its Apple Car project. While Apple hasn’t spent ten years on the micro LED display for the Watch, it has invested time and seen multiple delays over it.
