It’s no secret that Apple is developing its own Micro LED display technology and investing heavily to prepare it for mass production. The company plans to shift from OLED/LCD screens to Micro LED displays not only because the latter is far superior in terms of performance and reliability but also because the tech giant wants to reduce its dependence on Samsung Display. A new report reveals that Apple is working harder on the Micro LED tech than we might have thought.
According to a new report from Nikkei Asia, apart from designing Micro LED display tech, Apple has also designed some of the equipment required to manufacture these screens so that the company can tightly control the production quality of these panels. It also indicates that suppliers might not have the equipment required to manufacture Micro LED displays designed by Apple.
After Apple Watch, Apple will bring Micro LED screens to iPhones
What’s even more interesting is that Apple will also be involved in the manufacturing process. Reportedly, it will perform the “mass transfer” step of producing these panels, which involves transferring tens of thousands of Micro LED chips onto substrates. It’s unclear at the moment why Apple is planning to try its hand at manufacturing processes, but if we had to take a guess, we would say the tech giant might be doing so to control the production quality of these panels even further.
Typically, Apple provides other firms with the design and specifications of a product that it wants to get manufactured and leaves the actual production to them. But this time, the company is not only designing the equipment to produce the Micro LED panels but also taking part in the manufacturing process. It shows that the iPhone maker is very serious about Micro LED.
It also indicates that Apple is very eager to bring Micro LED displays to the market, and that’s quite troubling for Samsung. That’s because the sooner Apple shifts to Micro LED, the sooner Samsung will lose Apple’s business. The in-house developed display panels will also save Apple on the cost front, and the company could use those saving to reduce the price of its products, and then Samsung will also have to fight Apple on the price front.
