Apple suppliers revealed: The market’s first Micro LED wearable product will be mass-produced. Will it be the Apple Watch?

"Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" reported on February 9 (Editor Zheng Yuanfang) Apple supplier AUO revealed yesterday that it has begun to develop new technologies and new products, including Micro LED. The company expects to mass-produce wearable devices equipped with Micro LED in the second half of this year, with a size of about 2 inches.

The product launch time mainly depends on the time to market for end customers, "but it should be a manufacturer that leads mass production and is also the first (mass-produced) Micro LED wearable product on the market."

Judging from the product size, the Micro LED device may be a smart watch or a product of similar size.

It is worth noting that Apple has previously cooperated with Epistar, AU Optronics, TSMC and other manufacturers to jointly develop and produce Mini/Micro LED screens.

The timeline given by another market research agency DSCC is slightly different. The agency pointed out that Apple will start producing Micro LED displays for Apple Watch in 2024 and release MicroLED Apple Watch in 2025.

And Apple's adoption of Micro LED may not stop there - TrendForce believes that Apple will introduce Micro LED technology into consumer electronics products, first equipped with Apple Watch, and the scope of application may expand to AR glasses, mobile phones, automotive displays, etc. from 2026 to 2030.

Micro LED is called "the most promising new display technology in the future" and has high application potential in various display fields such as small-size wearables, VR/AR, mobile phones, tablets and TVs.

However, what currently hinders the expansion of Micro LED applications is cost.

The Micro LED Association (Micro LED Association) has previously estimated that the OLED price of the 1.78-inch Apple Watch will be US$20, while the target price of Micro LED displays with the same resolution will exceed US$40. DSCC also pointed out that the cost of Micro LED displays for Apple Watch will be more than five times that of the 1.92-inch Apple Watch Ultra model OLED display, priced at US$799.

With the development of technology and market, Ping An Securities said that when Micro OLED becomes cost competitive, it will usher in an inflection point.