Apple is said to be secretly developing its very own screens that use MicroLED technology, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Apple has turned to third-party display manufacturers such as Samsung, Sharp and LG for displays for its iPhones, but Bloomberg’s sources, who have asked to remain anonymous, have said the technology giant is designing and producing MicroLED screens at a secret facility near its headquarters in Cupertino.
The secret project, code-named T159, is overseen by Lynn Youngs, who is in charge of iPhone and Apple Watch screen technology, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Bloomberg‘s report suggests, however, that it will likely be a few years until Apple’s MicroLED displays will appear in shipping products, perhaps two years for the Apple Watch and three to five years for the iPhone. Apple will likely also outsource full-scale production of the displays.
The California facility is too small for mass-production, but the company wants to keep the proprietary technology away from its partners as long as possible, one of the people says. “We put a lot of money into the facility,” this person says. “It’s big enough to get through the engineering builds [and] lets us keep everything in-house during the development stages.”
Last year, chipmaker and Apple supplier Dialog Semiconductor acknowledged that Apple could develop its own power chips.
Sharp Corp shares fell 2.1 per cent, while Japan Display’s shares fell 2.4 per cent and LG Display’s stock lost 0.9 per cent on Monday.
