Huge markets await micro-LEDs, according to LEDinside
Providing that yields and costs are competitive, micro-LED could consume as much as 50% of the current LED production capacity worldwide if only all wearable devices and indoor public displays on the market were to switch to the new technology.
LEDinside’s analyst Philip Chang acknowledges that micro-LEDs’ two potential applications are at the opposite ends of the display size spectrum, wearable devices on one hand and very large indoor public displays on the other.
Chang points out that the development of micro-LEDs is very different from other display technologies: “Micro-LED combines the pixel and the light source together into one package. Therefore, specifications and product development for this technology will depend on sizes and volumes of pixels needed for various applications. Small-size displays have the advantage of having lower pixel volumes. Displays of wearable devices, for example, are usually smaller than a two-inch silicon wafer. Micro-LED solutions for this applications even allows for the wafer bonding process, which simplifies the LED manufacturing process and lower the technology barriers for LED suppliers.”
Adoption of micro-LED in large-size display applications has an advantage of products having lower pixel densities (as expressed in pixels per inch or PPI). Micro-LED solutions for large-size but low PPI displays do not need to significantly scale down their LED packages. However, the LED usage volume for micro-LED display increases with the size of the screen panel, and the technology is currently not mature enough to be transferred to large-size applications.
One solution already put forward by some manufacturers such as Sony with its Cledis LED display technology is to connect several small micro-LED display modules together to assemble large screens, making for better yield rates even for large screen sizes.
The analysts expects such large indoor micro-LED display systems based on a “connected structure” design to reach market sooner than wearable devices with micro-LED displays.
Currently, Taiwanese companies that are focusing on the R&D of micro-LED include Epistar, PlayNitride, Industrial Technology Research Institute, AU Optronics and Innolux. Providing a complete supply chain solution would be developmental advantage for Taiwanese micro-LED display manufacturers.
Major international branded electronics makers and LED suppliers such as Samsung, LG, Nichia, Sharp and Sony are also very active in the field. Among them, the leaders in terms of transferring the technology to end applications are LuxVue, which was acquired by Apple, and X-Celeprint, which spun off from the University of Illinois.
Visit TrendForce at www.trendforce.com
If you enjoyed this article, you will like the following ones: don't miss them by subscribing to :
