![\"\"](\"http:\/\/cdn.macrumors.com\/article-new\/2016\/12\/apple-watch-series-2.jpg\")
Samsung is rumored to be looking into a potential acquisition deal with Taiwan-based PlayNitride, specifically for the company’s micro-LED technology, as Apple’s micro-LED ambitions for the Apple Watch stretch into 2018. <\/p>\n[unable to retrieve full-text content]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Samsung is rumored to be looking into a potential acquisition deal with Taiwan-based PlayNitride, specifically for the company’s micro-LED technology, as Apple’s micro-LED ambitions for the Apple Watch stretch into 2018. <\/p>\n
According to sources speaking with OLED-Info<\/em><\/a>, Samsung is willing to offer up to $150 million for the company, and would use the micro-LED tech for VR applications and television sets in the future.<\/p>\n Another potential reason behind Samsung’s interest in PlayNitride might be related to Apple and an upcoming version of the Apple Watch. <\/p>\n Apple has been predicted to switch its wearable device over from an OLED display to micro-LED as soon as 2017<\/a>, but it’s more likely that micro-LED screens will hit an Apple Watch device in 2018, according to reports<\/a> from sources in Apple’s Longtan District plant in Taiwan. Apple Inc is expected to crank out a small volume of next-generation Micro-LED displays from a plant in Taoyuan by the end of this year for its wearable devices, an IDC analyst said yesterday.<\/p>\n The US technology giant is forecast to begin mass production of Micro-LED displays at the plant in Longtan District (\u9f8d\u6f6d) next year, ahead of rival display makers, IDC analyst Annabelle Hsu said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n If accurate, a late 2017 ramp-up for a 2018 product launch would align with Samsung’s entry in the micro-LED supply chain thanks to PlayNitride. Reports surrounding PlayNitride state that the company doesn’t plan on beginning to produce micro-LED chips until later in 2017, meaning that the display maker and Samsung — if it acquires PlayNitride — wouldn’t be added as potential Apple Watch supply sources until 2018 or later. According to an industry insider in Taiwan, Samsung is set to acquire Taiwan’s PlayNitride for the company’s micro-LED technology for around $150 million. Our inside says that Samsung aims to develop micro-LED based displays for VR applications, but may also look into micro-LED based TVs using PlayNitride’s technology.<\/p>\n All this means that Samsung may be just hedging its bets and gaining a foothold in an interesting and promising next-generation display technology. A $150 million investment is substantial – but Samsung is also spending billions of dollars to expand its OLED production capacity so it’s unlikely that Samsung actually considers micro-LED as a replacement for OLEDs, unless maybe for specific applications.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In regards to advantages of micro-LED, devices with the screen technology have the chance to be thinner, lighter, see an improved color gamut with increased brightness, and sport higher resolutions.<\/p>\n Still, there remain numerous technical challenges that make micro-LED difficult to mass produce, making some analysts believe that true commercialization of the technology won’t be reached until 2020. If Apple tries to build an Apple Watch with micro-LED this year or next, the company could face potential hurdles with the new technology, similar to what is rumored to be happening with the iPhone 8<\/a> and its switch to the new OLED screen<\/a>.<\/p>\n A few years ago Apple itself acquired a micro-LED display maker<\/a>, LuxVue, but the company hasn’t given any updates on the progress of its micro-LED development since then. At the time, a LuxVue investor said that the company had made “a technical breakthrough in displays.” Also believed to be a focus of Apple’s micro-LED efforts is a facility in northern Taiwan<\/a>.<\/p>\n While Apple’s timing for micro-LED technology remains unclear, Apple Watch Series 3 is rumored to come with an all-new glass-film touchscreen<\/a> in place of the current touch-on-lens solution, although it’s not certain how such an update would affect users. Rumors still conflict as to whether or not the Series 3 edition will mark the Apple Watch’s first major design change, or be another iterative addition to the lineup<\/a> with a focus on battery life improvements.<\/p>\n Discuss this article<\/a> in our forums<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\nRelated Roundups: Apple Watch Series 2<\/a>, watchOS 3<\/a>
Tags: Samsung<\/a>, Apple Watch 3<\/a>
Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)<\/a> <\/div>\n\n<\/img><\/a>
<\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5817,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[68,69,59,26],"class_list":["post-339777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-apple","tag-macrumors","tag-media","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5817"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339777\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}