Apple Acquires Micro-LED Display Maker LuxVue Technology

According to unnamed sources, Apple has acquired LuxVue Technology, a Silicon Valley-based company that's been working on micro-LED screen technologies.

Apple isn't commenting all that much on the matter. Re/code notes that its official statement is the same one Apple tends to use whenever it has, in fact, acquired a company.

"Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans," an Apple spokesman told the site.

Although not much is known about LuxVue's breakthroughs, if any, it is known that the company works on low-power micro-LED displays. According to TechCrunch, sources say that Apple acquired the company to beef up its own "hardware innovations area," which indicates that it is likely that LuxVue's technology will find a home in Apple's mobile devices at some point.

It's also possible that Apple might be looking to start bringing the manufacturing of its display panels in-house, instead of relying on some of its rivals to power parts of its screens.

John Doerr, partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, commented last September that the company had invested in LuxVue. More importantly, he mentioned that LuxView had developed some kind of technological breakthrough in display technology — presumably, said technology would allow a device to save on the amount of power it spends on the display itself. And when that happens, a user gets more battery life to play with.

LuxVue had raised $43 million in venture capital funding from Kleiner Perkins, iD Ventures America, and other companies. Its last funding round, a series C, was for $25 million in December.

"From an acquisition point of view, we have done 24 in 18 months. That shows that we're on the prowl, I suppose you could say. We look for companies that have great people and great technology and that fit culturally," Apple CEO Tim Cook said during a recent earnings call. "And we don't have a rule that says we can't spend a lot or whatever. We'll spend what we think is a fair price. What's important to us is that strategically it makes sense and that it winds up adding value to our shareholders over the long haul. We are not in a race to spend the most or acquire the most. We're in a race to make the worlds' best product that really enrich people's lives."

"So, to the tune that acquisitions can help us do that and they've done that and continue to do that, then we will acquire it," he continued. "And so you can bet that you will continue to see acquisitions and some of which we'll try to keep quiet and some of which seems to be impossible to keep quiet."