by Joe Rossignol
The rumored Apple Watch Ultra microLED project may have lost another key supplier, according to Display Supply Chain Consultants CEO Ross Young.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, manufacturing equipment company Kulicke & Soffa said one of its “strategic clients” had canceled project related to “advanced technologies”. display market:
Formerly known as “Project W”, the Company has collaborated with one of its strategic clients (the “Client”) to support the Client in the development and future mass production of certain technologies related to advanced display ( “Project”). Due to the Client's strategic review of its business, the Client advised the Company that it had canceled the Project.
In a social media post on Monday, Young suggested that “Project W” was potentially related to Apple Watch microLED. The company said it expects to incur up to $130 million in costs as a result of ceasing operations related to the project.
Kulicke & Soffa's website advertises a “next generation LED die transfer” system for microLED and miniLED displays . with “unprecedented data rates and high accuracy.”
Earlier this month, Apple supplier AMS-Osram similarly announced it would “reconsider its microLED strategy” after a “cornerstone project” was “unexpectedly cancelled.” Yang believes the project is also related to the Apple Watch microLED, which is why at least two major suppliers have now said they are no longer involved.
According to display supply chain consultants and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that Apple has for now completely canceled the micro-LED Apple Watch project, but other sources such as Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and DigiTimes have cast doubt and believe Apple has or is actively seeking alternative suppliers for the project.
Either way, an Apple Watch Ultra with microLED looks like it's at least a few years away.
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