LG Display has Acquired 14 micro LED Patents to Secure Apple's business for the next

In January Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple is reportedly planning to start using its own Custom micro-LED Displays for Apple Watch and iPhones in the next few years." The report noted that Apple’s project is being led by Wei Chen, a Senior Power Architect at Apple who runs the 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 for 2024, though recent delays are likely to push the schedule to 2026. The report lastly noted that although Apple has designed the new displays and devised their manufacturing process, it will likely rely on an outside supplier to handle mass production."

In recent news on this front we learn from a report from The Elec that LG purchased 14 micro LED patents that includes transfer technology.

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Market research firm Trend Force announced in July that "Apple had changed its plan to entrust the transfer process of the micro LED Apple Watch to LG Display." Apple initially tried to carry out the transcription process directly through its personnel in the US headquarters or Taiwan, but the chip is Malaysian, the backplane is Korea (LG Display), and the final assembly is carried out in China or Vietnam. Logistics and supply chain management changed their decision given the complexity.

This is why LG's acquisition of 14 micro LED focused patents that includes key transfer technology is so timely. This is a sign that LG focused on securing Apple's business by showing them that it would greatly improve the transfer process for Apple's supply chain in a timely manner.

If Apple secures micro LED technology that can be mass-produced, it can be applied to AR devices and smartphones after the Apple Watch. Since LED is an inorganic material, it has advantages over OLED, which is an organic material, in terms of product lifespan and luminance (brightness). In addition, Trend Force predicted that the mass production of the micro LED Apple Watch was postponed once again from the second quarter of 2025 to the first quarter of 2026.

Posted by Jack Purcher on August 07, 2023 at 08:27 AM in 5. Supply Chain News & Rumors | Permalink | Comments (0)