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BN 01/11 01:44 Apple to Start Using Own Screens in 2024 in Blow to Samsung (1)
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Apple to Start Using Own Screens in 2024 in Blow to Samsung (2)
2023-01-11 03:04:32.697 GMT
By Mark Gurman
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. is planning to start using its
own custom displays in mobile devices as early as 2024, an
effort to reduce its reliance on technology partners like
Samsung and LG and bring more components in-house.
The company aims to begin by swapping out the display in
the highest-end Apple Watches by the end of next year, according
to people with knowledge of the matter. The screens upgrade the
current OLED — organic light-emitting diode — standard to a
technology called microLED, and Apple plans to eventually bring
the displays to other devices, including the iPhone.
The changes are part of a sweeping effort to replace Apple
supplies with homegrown parts, an undertaking that will give the
company more control over the design and capabilities of its
products. The tech giant has dropped Intel Corp. chips in its
Mac computers in favor of in-house designs and plans to do the
same with the key wireless components in its iPhones.
A representative for Cupertino, California-based Apple
declined to comment.
Samsung is the world’s most advanced manufacturer of
displays, and has been producing its own version of microLED for
TVs. But by bringing the screens in-house, Apple could, in the
long run, better customize its devices and maintain a stronger
hold on its supply chain.
Apple’s screen switch has been underway for years.
Bloomberg first reported in 2018 on the company’s plan to design
its own displays, starting with the Apple Watch. The move will
deal a blow to Samsung Display Co. and LG Display Co., the two
main suppliers of the watch’s screens.
LG Display shares fell as much as 4.1% on Wednesday after
Bloomberg reported the news. Shares of Samsung Electronics Co.,
meanwhile, pared most of its gains during morning trading in
Seoul.
Apple’s project is being led by Wei Chen, who runs Apple’s
display technology group within Johny Srouji’s Hardware
Technologies division. The company has begun testing the
microLED displays on an update to the Apple Watch Ultra, its new
high-end sports watch.
Compared with current Apple Watches, the next-generation
displays are designed to offer brighter, more vibrant colors and
the ability to be better seen at an angle. The displays make
content appear like it’s painted on top of the glass, according
to people who have seen them, who asked not to be identified
because the project is still under wraps.
The microLED displays will be Apple’s first screens
designed and developed entirely in-house. The company currently
sources screens from a range of manufacturers, including Japan
Display Inc., Sharp Corp. and BOE Technology Group Co., in
addition to Samsung and LG.
Samsung and LG declined to comment. Apple accounts for 36%
of LG Display’s revenue, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg. Samsung, which competes with Apple in the smartphone
market in addition to serving as a supplier, gets about 6.6% of
its sales from the iPhone maker.
The work, codenamed T159, ramped up around 2018 and Apple
had set a goal to begin switching to microLED screens as early
as 2020. But the project languished due to high costs and
technical challenges, people involved in the work said. Apple
initially aimed to include the technology in large displays, but
those concerns led it to focus instead on its watch — whose
screens measure about 2 inches — as its first mobile device with
the capabilities.
Read more: Apple Is Said to Develop Gadget Displays in
Secret Facility
Apple’s 2024 target could potentially slip until 2025, some
people involved in the project said. The company also could just
offer a limited supply of the new devices to get the transition
started.
Though Apple has designed the new displays and devised
their manufacturing process, it will likely rely on an outside
supplier to handle mass production. The company operates a
62,000-square-foot facility in Santa Clara, California — about
15 minutes away from its Apple Park headquarters — where it
conducts test manufacturing of the screens. It has a similar
research and development campus in Taiwan.
Apple has devoted several billion dollars so far to the
effort, which is considered internally to be one of the
company’s most critical projects — alongside its attempts to
develop an electric car, a mixed-reality headset and key health
features for its watches. The company spent about $26 billion on
research and development in fiscal 2022.
In the near term, the new displays are the most significant
changes coming to the Apple Watch. The company plans to
introduce new models at the end of this year, but they will be
modest updates focused on faster chips and minor health sensor
upgrades. Apple hasn’t updated the main processor inside of its
watch for three years.
The company has also customized the displays for its
upcoming headset, which will use similar technology to the
microLED screens coming to the Apple Watch. While it will take
years before Apple moves the iPhone to microLED, it plans to
bring OLED technology to the iPad with the Pro model in 2024.
The shift to microLED has been a long time coming for
Apple. The effort began in 2014 when Apple bought startup
LuxVue, which pioneered microLED technology. The development of
Apple’s own screens had been led by veteran executive Lynn
Youngs within Apple’s hardware engineering division, but the
work was shifted two years ago to the purview of Srouji, who
oversees the company’s custom chip group.
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