Apple in talks with PlayNitride to secure MicroLED supply for Apple Watch
Apple may be preparing to add Taiwanese firm PlayNitride to its partners on what appears to be a growing MicroLED initiative for future devices, according to a recent report.
The two companies are in "preliminary talks" for some form of cooperation, DigiTimes said, citing industry sources. The rumor comes in the context of Taiwan's Ministry of Science and Technology approving a PlayNitride application to invest $17.1 million in new facilities at Hsinchu Science Park, where it will produce MicroLEDs, panels, and display modules.
DigiTimes often provides solid information on the Apple supply chain, but can be unreliable when it comes to Apple's future product plans.
Apple's main partner in MicroLED production could be TSMC, which already manufactures A-series processors for iPhones and iPads. The latter company may start production as soon as this year, working on panels for the Apple Watch and even a rumored augmented reality headset.
The cost of MicroLED could limit Watch use to higher-end models. It is however said to enable brighter yet thinner and less power-hungry displays, which would explain things like Apple's LuxVue takeover in 2014 and the establishment of a secret facility for the technology just 15 minutes from Apple Park in Cupertino.
MicroLED could be especially important in a headset, where room for batteries would be at a premium. Apple typically isn't expected to ship that product until at least 2020, which could give the company and its partners a chance to refine MicroLED and make it cost-effective.
The headset could run fully independently of an iPhone, using a mix of Siri, head gestures, and a touch panel for control. Apple is thought to be developing a custom OS, internally nicknamed "rOS" for "reality operating system."
MicroLED may eventually make it to bigger devices such as iPhones, but even OLED is just now making it into Apple devices with the $999 iPhone X, since it delivers a serious hit to profit margins.
The two companies are in "preliminary talks" for some form of cooperation, DigiTimes said, citing industry sources. The rumor comes in the context of Taiwan's Ministry of Science and Technology approving a PlayNitride application to invest $17.1 million in new facilities at Hsinchu Science Park, where it will produce MicroLEDs, panels, and display modules.
DigiTimes often provides solid information on the Apple supply chain, but can be unreliable when it comes to Apple's future product plans.
Apple's main partner in MicroLED production could be TSMC, which already manufactures A-series processors for iPhones and iPads. The latter company may start production as soon as this year, working on panels for the Apple Watch and even a rumored augmented reality headset.
The cost of MicroLED could limit Watch use to higher-end models. It is however said to enable brighter yet thinner and less power-hungry displays, which would explain things like Apple's LuxVue takeover in 2014 and the establishment of a secret facility for the technology just 15 minutes from Apple Park in Cupertino.
MicroLED could be especially important in a headset, where room for batteries would be at a premium. Apple typically isn't expected to ship that product until at least 2020, which could give the company and its partners a chance to refine MicroLED and make it cost-effective.
The headset could run fully independently of an iPhone, using a mix of Siri, head gestures, and a touch panel for control. Apple is thought to be developing a custom OS, internally nicknamed "rOS" for "reality operating system."
MicroLED may eventually make it to bigger devices such as iPhones, but even OLED is just now making it into Apple devices with the $999 iPhone X, since it delivers a serious hit to profit margins.
Comments
how much more would this cost? If it’s 50% more, it would be a hard sell. If it’s 10% more, it would work, if it’s noticably brighter than the 1,000 nuts of mine, and lead to a real increase in battery life. I get a bit over two days. If this gave me three, I would do it for 10% more.
If you’re talking about the non existent MicroLED display, then since it doesn’t actually exist as a product, who’s to say? But I haven’t gotten a bad pixel in a long time. I assume that this would be no different.
Soli had asked the same question on a previous thread - what percentage of the watch price is accounted for by the OLED screen and how will the 400-600% factor in to the overall cost of the Watch?
I don't have the answer, but the 400-600% figure came from DigiTimes, so I think it can be taken with a grain of salt.
I bought the Black Stainless Steel Watch (Series 2) with the Black link bracelet as well and I think that is the upper limit to what I'd pay for the Apple Watch. I didn't bother picking up the Ceramic Series 3 one.
I'm not sure how Apple will sell it if it costs more than $1100. They'll probably sell it as "always on". Hopefully, the following generation will see the price come down and the tech trickle down to the Sport version as well.
otherwise, there is no commercial product that uses true MicroLED technology. I’m also not sure the Samsung was a real product, though it might be a custom order. It wasn't clear.
The problem is that part cost is not product cost. If a display costs $25, as a part, that means that as a price in the finished product, it would be between the traditional 2.5 to 3.5 times the part cost, therefor costing $62.50 to 87.50 to the consumer. So a $100 screen would cost $250 to 350 to the consumer. That’s way too much.
By the way, I’ve now got my bracelet for about 1.5 years, when I sold my gen 2 to get the gen 3, I kept it. My amazement is that even though I’ve got various shops, where one thing I do is to grind metal, the bracelet, even the clasp which rubs against things, has remained entirely scratch free. I can’t detect even the smallest scratch with magnification. The black diamond coating is really effective. When I sold my watch to,a friend, and I polished it, it was totally scratch free as well. Amazing! When you consider that there are articles on how to remove scratches and scuffs from the natural stainless models, you can really appreciate this.
back to the screens. I also don’t know how accurate Digitimes is. Sometimes they are spot on, and sometimes not close. Usually they are best at detailing what suppliers are doing. But everything I’ve read says that producing them is hard. I suppose that with experience, as usual, it will get easier, and that means cheaper. How expensive a part could this be? The iPhone X is $100 more. And that’s a $900 product already. Can you add $100 to a $350 product, $200, or more? I don’t think so. This would have to be a luxury option for a while, at least.
im not so sure this would lead to an always on option. At best, it might add an extra day to practical usage. So from the effective 2 plus days I get now, to a solid 3 days.