Apple to begin making in-house screens in 2024 in a shift away from Samsung

Apple Inc. is planning to start using its own custom displays in mobile devices as early as 2024, an effort to reduce its reliance on technology partners like Samsung and LG and bring more components in-house.

The company aims to begin by swapping out the display in the highest-end Apple Watches by the end of next year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The screens upgrade the current OLED — organic light-emitting diode — standard to a technology called microLED, and Apple plans to eventually bring the displays to other devices, including the iPhone.

The changes are part of a sweeping effort to replace Apple supplies with homegrown parts, an undertaking that will give the company more control over the design and capabilities of its products. The tech giant has dropped Intel Corp. chips in its Mac computers in favor of in-house designs and plans to do the same with the key wireless components in its iPhones.

A representative for Cupertino, California-based Apple declined to comment.

Samsung is the world’s most advanced manufacturer of displays, and has been producing its own version of microLED for TVs. But by bringing the screens in-house, Apple could, in the long run, better customize its devices and maintain a stronger hold on its supply chain.

Apple’s screen switch has been underway for years. Bloomberg first reported in 2018 on the company’s plan to design its own displays, starting with the Apple Watch. The move will deal a blow to Samsung Display Co. and LG Display Co., the two main suppliers of the watch’s screens.

LG Display shares fell as much as 4.1% on Wednesday after Bloomberg reported the news. Shares of Samsung Electronics Co., meanwhile, pared most of its gains during morning trading in Seoul.

Apple’s project is being led by Wei Chen, who runs Apple’s display technology group within Johny Srouji’s Hardware Technologies division. The company has begun testing the microLED displays on an update to the Apple Watch Ultra, its new high-end sports watch.

Compared with current Apple Watches, the nextgeneration displays are designed to offer brighter, more vibrant colors and the ability to be better seen at an angle. The displays make content appear like it’s painted on top of the glass, according to people who have seen them, who asked not to be identified because the project is still under wraps.

The microLED displays will be Apple’s first screens designed and developed entirely in-house. The company currently sources screens from a range of manufacturers, including Japan Display Inc., Sharp Corp. and BOE Technology Group Co., in addition to Samsung and LG.

Samsung and LG declined to comment. Apple accounts for 36% of LG Display’s revenue, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Samsung, which competes with Apple in the smartphone market in addition to serving as a supplier, gets about 6.6% of its sales from the iPhone maker.

The work, codenamed T159, ramped up around 2018 and Apple had set a goal to begin switching to microLED screens as early as 2020. But the project languished due to high costs and technical challenges, people involved in the work said. Apple initially aimed to include the technology in large displays, but those concerns led it to focus instead on its watch — whose screens measure about 2 inches — as its first mobile device with the capabilities.