Apple has lost another component supplier for the microLED-display Apple Watch Ultra, codenamed Project W. reports The MacRumors publication cites insider and CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants Ross Young.
Kulicke & Soffa said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 11 that one of its “strategic partners” had canceled a project related to the “advanced display” market. In this context, the company is expected to incur a cost of $130 million.
Young believes that Kulicke & Soffa’s unnamed strategic partner is Apple or its contractor, and that microLED matrices are included under “advanced displays.” The first Apple product with MicroLED was supposed to be the 2025 Apple Watch Ultra.
According to MacRumors, Young’s prediction is indirectly confirmed by the fact that Kulicke & Soffa is actually developing LEDs for displays. The company’s website touts its “next-generation LED die transfer system” with “unprecedented speed and precision” for microLED and miniLED displays.
Kulicke & Soffa became the second microLED company to end its partnership with Apple last month. Before that, AMS-Osram reported that Apple’s microLED matrix orders were unexpectedly canceled.
Citing these and previous rumors, MacRumors suggests that Apple may refuse to release watches with a new display type altogether or pause the project.
Previously Apple’s testing advertising technology based on artificial intelligence.