Foreign media: Meta is advancing the mass production of MicroLED microdisplays

Recently, foreign media reported that in order to realize the plan to release Micro LED AR glasses in 2027, Meta is fully engaged in mass production preparations for Micro LED microdisplays. According to the latest industry trends, although Meta does not directly produce Micro LED chips, it is deeply involved in the research and development and supply chain integration of display technology.

It is reported that Meta is currently recruiting senior manufacturing engineers for its team in Sunnyvale, California. The main task is to promote its external core partners to ramp up the production capacity of RGB Micro LED chips. This position will be responsible for the entire production process from epitaxial wafer growth, device manufacturing to back-end testing, ensuring that Micro LED microdisplays can smoothly enter the mass production stage.

Looking back on Meta's exploration process in the field of Micro LED, the most eye-catching product is undoubtedly the Orion AR glasses prototype unveiled in September 2024. It uses a silicon-based Micro LED full-color micro-display solution and combines it with a silicon carbide optical waveguide to achieve a field of view of up to 70 degrees.

Although Orion is currently only available for internal and developer testing and has not been introduced to the mass market due to the cost of a single pair of nearly US$10,000 and the complex process, it has established Micro LED as the core technology of future flagship AR glasses.

In contrast, Meta's consumer-grade product Meta Ray-Ban Display, which will be officially launched in September 2025, has taken a more pragmatic route. The $799 smart glasses currently use an LCoS projection solution. Although LCoS technology is relatively mature and cheaper, it is still difficult to compete with Micro LED in terms of brightness, volume and contrast. Therefore, Meta’s strategic goal is to launch a truly consumer-oriented Micro LED AR glasses by the end of 2027 to replace the existing LCoS solution.

In terms of supply chain cooperation, Meta signed an exclusive agreement with Micro LED manufacturer Plessey in 2020. Although there were rumors during the period that the project progress was not as good as expected, news in early 2025 showed that cooperation between the two parties was still continuing.

In addition, foreign media said that Meta was also revealed to be cooperating with Sapien Semiconductors to design the driver backplane and have it produced by GlobalFoundries. At the same time, it may be discussing chip supply issues with ams and Osram.

As 2027 approaches, Meta is trying to overcome industry problems such as Micro LED red pixel efficiency and full-color mass production through large-scale investment and in-depth supply chain intervention to achieve mass production of Micro LED AR glasses.

It is worth noting that TrendForce has previously predicted that Meta will be one of the key promoters of the development of Micro LED micro-display technology and will work with Apple, Google and a number of Chinese brands to increase the penetration rate of Micro LED display technology, reaching 65% in 2030.