Apple Watch Ultra With microLED Display Cancelled, Employees Laid Off: Ming-Chi Kuo

Apple reportedly struggled to see how the high-end displays would bring value to the watch as production costs on the project kept climbing.

Written by Manas Mitul | Updated: 2 March 2024 14:01 IST

Apple Watch Ultra With microLED Display Cancelled, Employees Laid Off: Ming-Chi Kuo

Photo Credit: Bloomberg

Apple Watch Ultra 2 was launched late last year

Highlights

Last month, reports said that microLED Apple Watch Ultra had been delayed
Apple has not confirmed the development of microLED-equipped Watch Ultra
The company also scraped its electric car project earlier this week

Apple has long been rumoured to be working on microLED displays for its flagship Watch Ultra smartwatch. Last month, reports said that the Cupertino, California-based company had delayed the Apple Watch Ultra with microLED display beyond 2026 over supply chain issues. Now, the iPhone maker is said to have cancelled the project altogether. According to a reliable analyst, Apple has abandoned the project as it struggled to make the product economically viable and has also laid off several people from the development team.

The information comes from TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who claimed in a post on X late Friday that Apple had scrapped the microLED Apple Watch Ultra project. Apple was struggling to see how the high-end displays would bring value to the watch as production costs on the project kept climbing, Kuo said. “... 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,” the analyst claimed.

Apple Micro LED update:

1. 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.

2. Apple has…
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) March 1, 2024

Kuo also said that Apple had laid off “many people” from the microLED development team. Apple has not confirmed the development and it is unclear how many employees have been laid off. “There's currently no visibility on any Micro LED-related projects,” Kuo added.

The reported cancellation of the microLED Apple Watch Ultra project, if true, would represent yet another blow to the company's ambitions after Apple scrapped its decade-long electric car project earlier this week. “It's undoubtedly a major setback for Apple, which hopes to own the next generation of display technology to make its products more competitive,” Kuo said.

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According to Kuo, Austrian manufacturer asm-OSRAM was Apple's exclusive LED chip supplier for microLEDs. Now, with the project cancelled, Apple does not intend to manufacture microLED-equipped devices in the foreseeable future, Kuo added.

An official update from Osram also hints at the cancellation of the microLED Apple Watch project. The company said in a press release (as spotted by GSMArena) that it was reassessing its microLED strategy after a “cornerstone project underpinning its microLED strategy got unexpectedly cancelled.”

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Last month, a Korean publication reported that the Apple Watch with a microLED display had been delayed beyond 2026, with a 2027 release also far from certain. The report said that Apple had not been able to finalise the component supply chain required to make microLED displays for the Watch Ultra.

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Apple Watch Ultra 2

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display Size 49mm

Compatible OS iOS

Dial Shape Rectangle

Display Type OLED Retina

Ideal For Unisex

More Apple Smartwatches

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Further reading: Apple, Apple Watch, Apple Watch Ultra, Apple Watch Ultra microLED, Ming Chi Kuo

Manas Mitul

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In his time as a journalist, Manas Mitul has written on a wide spectrum of beats including politics, culture and sports. He enjoys reading, walking around in museums and rewatching films. Talk to Manas about football and tennis, but maybe don’t bring up his video game backlog. More