MicroLED Apple Watch Ultra Project Potentially Loses Another Supplier

The rumored microLED Apple Watch Ultra project may have lost another key supplier, according to Display Supply Chain Consultants CEO Ross Young.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, manufacturing equipment company Kulicke & Soffa said that one of its "strategic customers" has canceled a project related to the "advanced display" market:

Previously referred to as Project W, the Company has been engaged with one of its strategic customers (the "Customer") to support the Customer with the development and future mass production of certain technologies relating to advanced display (the "Project"). In connection with the Customer's strategic review of its business, the Customer has informed the Company that it has cancelled the Project.

In a social media post on Monday, Young suggested that "Project W" was potentially related to the microLED Apple Watch. The company said it expects to incur charges of up to $130 million as a result of ceasing operations related to the project.

Kulicke & Soffa's website advertises a "next generation LED die transfer" system for microLED and miniLED displays with "an unprecedented transfer rate at high precision."

Earlier this month, Apple supplier AMS-Osram similarly announced it would "re-assess its microLED strategy" after a "cornerstone project" was "unexpectedly cancelled." Young believes that project also related to the microLED Apple Watch, so there are now at least two major suppliers that have indicated they are no longer involved.

Both Display Supply Chain Consultants and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believe that Apple has outright canceled the microLED Apple Watch project for now, but other sources like Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and DigiTimes have cast doubt and believe that Apple has or is actively seeking alternative suppliers for the project.

In any case, a microLED Apple Watch Ultra appears to remain several years away at a minimum.