Apple’s Reportedly Opened a Secret Lab to Develop New Screen Tech

It has at least 50 employees working on the matter, all of whom have been recruited from local display maker AU Optronics and Qualcomm. Apple may be trying to manufacture more components in-house to exercise more control over production.

The only sign that it belongs to Apple is that a receptionist is seated opposite an Apple logo placed on the wall and using an iMac computer with Apple’s visitor registration screen displayed.

Spokeswoman for Apple in Cupertino, California, Kristin Huguet has declined to comment on the situation.

While the facility has been registered as Taiwan Apple LLC’s headquarters since October, Apple maintains its presence there discreetly, with no outward indication of the facility’s ownership, according to the report. This could mean the Apple is taking up the Marisol project or it could simply mean they are working on another display technology on their own. However, Bloomberg reported that Hsinchu Science Park management office records indicate that Apple began operations in the building in April.

While this may not have any impact on the general display market (or it might) it definitely spells good things for Apple devices which now use LCD screens in Macs and iOS devices and OLED ones for Apple Watch.

But while all of this seems to be happening in anticipation of Apple’s alleged switch to OLED, it looks like Apple might not want to remain dependent on third party display suppliers for much longer. Apple is also continuing to advertise for Taiwanese-based display engineers on LinkedIn, adding weight to Bloomberg’s report.

The lab was formerly owned by AU Optronics and Qualcomm. Apple clearly recognizes the need for more powerful batteries-the company just last week introduced its first smart battery case for the iPhone.

By doing so, Apple can reduce its dependence on suppliers such as Samsung, LG, Sharp and Japan Display.

Even though displays in iPhones ranging from iPhone 4 to iPhone 5s remained largely similar, Apple has started investing heavily to flawless its screens amidst strong competition from Samsung, Huawei and others threatening to steal the show.