What’s going on at the Apple Skunkworks?
Apple has a ‘mysterious’ plant at the Longtan Science Park in Taoyuan, Taiwan. The plant is in an isolated corner of the park with only one company nearby, and is surrounded by forests. At noon, no cars passed the plant, there is no logo or name on the outside of the building, and a photographer sitting in a taxi was warned away by former FBI guards as soon as he lifted his camera. Sounds like the beginning of a new ‘Mission Impossible’ film or ‘Taken 13’ (they have his daughter in there), but it is really Apple’s Taiwan skunk works, and you are not allowed in.
Apple has been in the factory since mid-2015, although most were not aware of its existence until late 2015. Apple ‘borrowed’ some of AU Optronics (AUO) OLED engineers, a few graduate students with expertise in optoelectronics, and brought in some staff from LuxVue (pvt), a micro-LED developer that Apple bought in May 2014, along with a number of technologist from various Taiwanese firms. Of course, they do not talk about what is being worked on at the fab, and it is under the utmost security, with employees allowed to stay only at the company designated hotel, and in rooms that are bugged by the company on a regular basis, not because they are afraid others will try to gather information, but to make sure employees don’t reveal any information, even when they are asleep! Even the former President of the Republic of China, Ma Ying-jeou, was rejected when he requested to visit the plant.
So what are they doing? They are trying to find a way to move past their rival/partner Samsung Electronics by developing new display technologies, and it likely doesn’t matter what the technology is, as long as it is viable in a commercial manufacturing setting. While some of the staff is versed in OLED, we would expect the bulk of the research being done in this facility (BTW, there is an Apple logo on the wall of the entrance hall inside, or so we are told) is related to micro-LEDs, a technology that Apple is expected to use in the next version of the Apple Watch. The technology, which we have mentioned a number of times in the past, is based on very small self-emitting LEDs that become the sub-pixels of a display screen.
The concept has been around for a number of years, with Sony (SNE) being the most vocal about its commercial potential, but the technology needed to both make the LEDs themselves, and place/connect them in a device is still being developed. Should Apple find a way to do this in a cost effective manner, (current estimates are that micro-LEDs costs are 3 to 4x that of competitive display technologies) it could allow them to reduce their potential reliance on Samsung Electronics for OLED displays, and give them an edge on the technology side, which would be a very significant marketing advantage. Will we get updates on their progress? We doubt it, but an occasional hint here and there, and an actual product (or even a demo of a potential product) will give a few clues as to their progress. …anyone with BlackOps experience please contact us…
Apple has been in the factory since mid-2015, although most were not aware of its existence until late 2015. Apple ‘borrowed’ some of AU Optronics (AUO) OLED engineers, a few graduate students with expertise in optoelectronics, and brought in some staff from LuxVue (pvt), a micro-LED developer that Apple bought in May 2014, along with a number of technologist from various Taiwanese firms. Of course, they do not talk about what is being worked on at the fab, and it is under the utmost security, with employees allowed to stay only at the company designated hotel, and in rooms that are bugged by the company on a regular basis, not because they are afraid others will try to gather information, but to make sure employees don’t reveal any information, even when they are asleep! Even the former President of the Republic of China, Ma Ying-jeou, was rejected when he requested to visit the plant.
So what are they doing? They are trying to find a way to move past their rival/partner Samsung Electronics by developing new display technologies, and it likely doesn’t matter what the technology is, as long as it is viable in a commercial manufacturing setting. While some of the staff is versed in OLED, we would expect the bulk of the research being done in this facility (BTW, there is an Apple logo on the wall of the entrance hall inside, or so we are told) is related to micro-LEDs, a technology that Apple is expected to use in the next version of the Apple Watch. The technology, which we have mentioned a number of times in the past, is based on very small self-emitting LEDs that become the sub-pixels of a display screen.
The concept has been around for a number of years, with Sony (SNE) being the most vocal about its commercial potential, but the technology needed to both make the LEDs themselves, and place/connect them in a device is still being developed. Should Apple find a way to do this in a cost effective manner, (current estimates are that micro-LEDs costs are 3 to 4x that of competitive display technologies) it could allow them to reduce their potential reliance on Samsung Electronics for OLED displays, and give them an edge on the technology side, which would be a very significant marketing advantage. Will we get updates on their progress? We doubt it, but an occasional hint here and there, and an actual product (or even a demo of a potential product) will give a few clues as to their progress. …anyone with BlackOps experience please contact us…
Unknown Factory at 55 Longyuan Rd - Source: Ofweek
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