Rumored Apple Watch Ultra with micro LED might be dead

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in Apple Watch

Apple is believed to be the unnamed customer whose sudden cancellation of orders for micro LED displays thought to be for the Apple Watch Ultra has caused ams Osram's shares to drop 40%.

Red and black smartwatch screen showing compass, music note icon, and various activity metrics like UV index, latitude, and distance walked.
Apple Watch Ultra



Neither ams Osram nor Apple have ever confirmed that the Austrian firm is a supplier of micro LED displays for the next Apple Watch Ultra. However, it has previously been linked to the company, and in 2023 reported that it would see increased revenues in 2025, when the Apple Watch Ultra 3 with the technology was expected to arrive.

Whether the client is Apple or not, ams Osram is now reeling after a seemingly abrupt and total cancellation of a major order for micro LED. The company announced the issue to comply with the SIX Swiss Exchange.

"The shock is still deep," CEO Aldo Kamper said on a conference call about the filing. The company had already built a purpose-made $1.41 billion factory in Malaysia.

"We thought everything was on track," added CFO Rainer Irle. Irle also said that the company was looking to sell the new factory.

In the announcement about the project cancellation, the firm stated that it now expects to record non-cash impairment charges on microLED related assets and goodwill of $650 million to $970 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2024.

"Discussions with the related customer are ongoing," continues the statement. Shares in the firm have dropped 40% on the news.

If the micro LED customer is Apple, and it's likely that it was given that the factory construction was also tied to Apple, previous reports suggest that the technology was intended for the next Apple Watch Ultra. It's possible that the order cancellation is to do with how it's been claimed that Apple has yet again had to delay the new watch, perhaps to 2027.

Those same reports, though, said that LG was buying patents specifically to speed up its own ability to develop micro LED screens. It has also been claimed that Apple has been unable to finalize the component supply chain.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    XedXed Posts: 2,573member
    That's unfortunate given the typical benefits of μOLED. If true, I likely won't be upgrading my Watch Ultra this year.
    byronl
  • Reply 2 of 20
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,200member
    This and the car cancellation may be signs Vision Pro isn't doing so well.
    dewmewilliamlondon
  • Reply 3 of 20
    XedXed Posts: 2,573member
    cpsro said:
    This and the car cancellation may be signs Vision Pro isn't doing so well.
    How are they connected?
    darbus69williamlondonpulseimagesQuickfeet32jas99charlesnbyronl
  • Reply 4 of 20
    miiwtwomiiwtwo Posts: 44member
    whats wrong with you Apple, 3500 for a AVP, no apple car and now no microLED apple watch, i know the answer  :/
    williamlondonbyronl
  • Reply 5 of 20
    eriamjheriamjh Posts: 1,647member
    Well, seems like one should have a cancellation fee with a contract such as this.

    Reminds me of a certain EV company ordering, then doubling the order for a bunch of pies, then cancelling.
    kkqd1337
  • Reply 6 of 20
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,200member
    Xed said:
    cpsro said:
    This and the car cancellation may be signs Vision Pro isn't doing so well.
    How are they connected?
    Expenses without good, near-term ROI. Add to that the need to push on AI.
    williamlondon
  • Reply 7 of 20
    XedXed Posts: 2,573member
    cpsro said:
    Xed said:
    cpsro said:
    This and the car cancellation may be signs Vision Pro isn't doing so well.
    How are they connected?
    Expenses without good, near-term ROI. Add to that the need to push on AI.
    1) How much do you think Project Titan hurt Apple's bottom line? Do you really think that nothing from that R&D will come to fruition? Do you realize that you usually don't know anything about Apple's R&D until it's a shipping product?

    2) How does Apple not putting μOLED into a Watch this year add to their expenses? Why are focusing on near-term ROI, not long term?

    3) What's wrong with the AVP? It's been out a a few weeks and you're calling it a failure, do I have that correctly? If so, why and where is your proof?

    4) What issue do you take with Apple continuing to develop and implement "AI" in their devices?
    williamlondonroundaboutnowmattinozjas99byronl
  • Reply 8 of 20
    miiwtwomiiwtwo Posts: 44member
    Xed said:
    cpsro said:
    Xed said:
    cpsro said:
    This and the car cancellation may be signs Vision Pro isn't doing so well.
    How are they connected?
    Expenses without good, near-term ROI. Add to that the need to push on AI.
    1) How much do you think Project Titan hurt Apple's bottom line? Do you really think that nothing from that R&D will come to fruition? Do you realize that you usually don't know anything about Apple's R&D until it's a shipping product?

    2) How does Apple not putting μOLED into a Watch this year add to their expenses? Why are focusing on near-term ROI, not long term?

    3) What's wrong with the AVP? It's been out a a few weeks and you're calling it a failure, do I have that correctly? If so, why and where is your proof?

    4) What issue do you take with Apple continuing to develop and implement "AI" in their devices?
    okay, now we know that you are in love ._.
    avon b7williamlondon
  • Reply 9 of 20
    darbus69darbus69 Posts: 33member
    cpsro said:
    This and the car cancellation may be signs Vision Pro isn't doing so well.

    quit posting for recognition folks, it’s obvious Apple knows more than you do, so obvious…
    williamlondonpulseimagesQuickfeet32
  • Reply 10 of 20
    darbus69darbus69 Posts: 33member
    miiwtwo said:
    whats wrong with you Apple, 3500 for a AVP, no apple car and now no microLED apple watch, i know the answer  :/
    another fool who knows more than Apple😏
    williamlondonpulseimagesQuickfeet32roundaboutnowjas99
  • Reply 11 of 20
    williamlondonwilliamlondon Posts: 1,324member
    Xed said:
    cpsro said:
    This and the car cancellation may be signs Vision Pro isn't doing so well.
    How are they connected?
    The mental gymnastics of the negative nellies always astounds.
    edited February 29 Xedroundaboutnowjas99charlesnrundhvid
  • Reply 12 of 20
    pulseimagespulseimages Posts: 604member
    cpsro said:
    This and the car cancellation may be signs Vision Pro isn't doing so well.
    The car was canceled because companies like GM and Ford are cutting production of EV vehicles to make more gas powered vehicles. Also Hertz is selling 20,000 of its electric fleet to buy more gas powered vehicles. EV revolution has cooled. 
    jas99
  • Reply 13 of 20
    cdarlington1cdarlington1 Posts: 25member
    I don't understand how that can even happen. They spent all the money of their to build the facility to make the screens. How can Apple just cancel the order? Is it just a badly run company that lets Apple run over them like that? Just bizarre.
  • Reply 14 of 20
    charlesncharlesn Posts: 842member
    williamlondon said:
    Xed said:
    cpsro said:
    This and the car cancellation may be signs Vision Pro isn't doing so well.
    How are they connected?
    The mental gymnastics of the negative nellies always astounds.
    Yes, and don't forget the private weekly secret briefings they get from Tim Cook, so they have complete visibility into Apple's business at all times. 
    williamlondon
  • Reply 15 of 20
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,360member
    Never mind.
    edited March 2
  • Reply 16 of 20
    multimediamultimedia Posts: 1,035member
    I’d rather Apple was focused on longer battery life in the Apple Watches.
  • Reply 17 of 20
    XedXed Posts: 2,573member
    multimedia said:
    I’d rather Apple was focused on longer battery life in the Apple Watches.
    How are they not?
    williamlondon
  • Reply 18 of 20
    thttht Posts: 5,452member
    cdarlington1 said:
    I don't understand how that can even happen. They spent all the money of their to build the facility to make the screens. How can Apple just cancel the order? Is it just a badly run company that lets Apple run over them like that? Just bizarre.
    It’s your basic business situation that happens all the time. Eg, the component supplier isn’t meeting their schedule and product performance requirements. As the schedule slips, the window for the component’s benefits starts to close as incumbent tech slowly improves. Soon enough, the new tech isn’t worth it anymore. 

    Alternatively, the tech has a window to meet for most benefit. If the tech can’t get into production inside the window, with years of delays, the OEM can move on to different strategy, a different product, or some other tech catches up. 

    For microLED, it may be that OLED has become robust and good enough such that microLED’s benefits have been neutralized. Or even worse, microLED’s benefits can’t be achieved as thought.

    For the Watch microLED, maybe the component supplier said it would be ready for the Watch Ultra. Apple fell back to OLED for the Ultra. Now, with the 2nd version of the Ultra still OLED, without a microLED display looking ready, you can see why a company should cut its losses. 
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 19 of 20
    Rogue01Rogue01 Posts: 161member
    Xed said:
    cpsro said:
    Xed said:
    cpsro said:
    This and the car cancellation may be signs Vision Pro isn't doing so well.
    How are they connected?
    Expenses without good, near-term ROI. Add to that the need to push on AI.


    3) What's wrong with the AVP? It's been out a a few weeks and you're calling it a failure, do I have that correctly? If so, why and where is your proof?


    Cult of Mac already confirmed a 76% return rate on Apple Vision Pro.  What's wrong with it?  Read or watch a review.  Plenty of things that Apple missed or ignored, the AR market is non-existent, and it is an answer looking for a question.  No one ever asked for better AR, and it is WAY overpriced.  In this economy, your typical person is not wasting $3500 on it.  It is a niche product that the majority have zero interest in.  It is like Apple was bored and at first they took a stab at speakers, the HomePod, and that is a failure, so then they decide to make an excessively overpriced pair of AR goggles that no one asked for.  AVP is like a fancy technology product that no one wants or asked for.  The 76% return rate tells you that.  People bought them knowing they can return for a 100% refund within 14 days...so they play with it, and then decide, yeah, will never use it, going back.  AR/VR is nothing new, and the consumer market just isn't into it.  3DTV failed because people don't even want to wear glasses to watch TV, let alone a heavy pair of goggles for 2-3 hours.  So it means...a lot of money wasted...on this, and on the fantasy car that Apple was never going to get off the ground.  So they have to make some cuts.
    edited March 2 williamlondon
  • Reply 20 of 20
    XedXed Posts: 2,573member
    Rogue01 said:
    Xed said:
    cpsro said:
    Xed said:
    cpsro said:
    This and the car cancellation may be signs Vision Pro isn't doing so well.
    How are they connected?
    Expenses without good, near-term ROI. Add to that the need to push on AI.


    3) What's wrong with the AVP? It's been out a a few weeks and you're calling it a failure, do I have that correctly? If so, why and where is your proof?


    Cult of Mac already confirmed a 76% return rate on Apple Vision Pro.
    Proof? Because I'm reading 1% from multiple sources, which is inline with all other Apple products.

    https://daringfireball.net/linked/2024/02/28/vision-pro-returns

     AR/VR is nothing new.
    Well neither was the cellphone or even the smartphone and yet Apple seems to be doing pretty well with those. It's almost as if coming into a market that has been in existence for decades with crappy HW doesn't mean that you can't have an excellent product comes and being the de facto product for said market.
    edited March 3 williamlondonrundhvid
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