Apple reportedly started to wind down its in-house effort to design and develop smartwatch displays, resulting in job cuts across the US and Asia.

Bloomberg reported the tech giant stopped working on building its own microLEDs displays over the past several weeks. The news agency reported early last year that Apple planned to upgrade OLEDs on some watches to its own microLEDs by the end of 2024.

In addition to watches, Apple also planned to use microLEDs on additional devices such as iPhones and Macs, according to Bloomberg.

The microLEDs are one element of Apple’s plan to bring more of its components in-house to cut reliance on suppliers. Bloomberg stated the cost and complexity of the project are too great.

Apple is in the process of reorganising the teams that worked on display engineering, but the news agency noted that effort includes eliminating several dozen jobs across the two countries.

The project started about seven years ago and included Apple building its own screen manufacturing facility near its Cupertino, California headquarters.

The news agency reported many of the job cuts involve employees at the manufacturing site, as well as at Apple display engineering centres in Asia located near its supply chain hubs.

In February, Bloomberg reported Apple also abandoned a multibillion-dollar effort to make its own electric vehicle.