A recent report from Korea states that LG is requesting compensation from Apple for canceling their order of microLED panels for the Apple Watch Ultra. The rumored Apple Watch Ultra with microLED technology had been anticipated for years before news broke in March that Apple had decided to cancel the order.
The order seems to have originated from Osram, but it appears that LG was also part of it, and the Korean company is not willing to overlook this – it is demanding that Apple compensate for the halt in the Apple Watch microLED project.
According to the report, LG was getting ready to implement the “microLED backplane process at Apple’s unofficial request”. However, as we were already aware, Apple ultimately decided to cancel the project to create a microLED Apple Watch.
LG invested tens of billions of Korean won into the project, with one billion won being approximately equivalent to $730,000. Therefore, the high tens of billions of won would amount to a maximum of around $65 million.
LG apparently rearranged some equipment, allocated space for the microLED backplane process in one of its facilities, hired workers, and established a task force. Additionally, some of LG’s suppliers were also ready to provide equipment at that time.
However, due to Apple canceling the project, LG dissolved its task force and faced financial losses from securing space and hiring staff for the microLED backplane process.
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Korean industry analysts find it interesting that Apple may potentially pay LG more for OLED panels if they compensate them for their losses. This is due to the fact that Apple has not officially announced the development or cancellation of a microLED Apple Watch project.
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