Mini LED will be shipped in volume as soon as next year, targeting high-end applications to replace OLED

The LED business has been sluggish in recent years, and Micro LED (micro LED) has high hopes. However, the international major Nichia has stated that it will not mass-produce within 4 years. Mini LED, which is slightly larger than Micro LED, has therefore become a theme and is intended to replace OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology with a higher cost performance. Epistar Chairman Li Bingjie said, "From a cost perspective, mini LED is a good business for existing LED manufacturers; OLED expenditures are relatively heavy."

Traditional LED packages are about 1-5 millimeters (mm) in length and width. Mini LED generally refers to miniature products with a length and width of 100-300 microns (0.1-0.3 mm), and smaller Micro LEDs must be less than 100 microns (0.1 mm). Micro LED has been a hot topic in the past two years and will bring changes to backlight and display applications. However, there are uncertainties about technical bottlenecks and the willingness of brand manufacturers to promote it. Therefore, Epistar launched mini LED last year as a transitional product.

It is expected to replace OLED

After more than a year of fermentation, Epistar said that mini LED will be the first to be used for display signage, and TVs are also expected to follow next year, with significant growth in 2020. However, in the short term, mini LED will not be able to "completely replace" traditional LED backlit TVs. Instead, it will target high-end applications and replace OLED.

Because of its small size, mini LED can keep pace with OLED in terms of resolution and color performance, but its cost is more advantageous. Epistar's analysis shows that the global demand for high-end TVs is approximately 3 million units per year. Based on an average unit price of NT$80,000, the market size is approximately NT$240 billion. However, the construction cost of an OLED factory is about NT$200 billion, which is a new investment; mini LED only needs to use the existing equipment of the LED factory.

At present, Epistar’s mini LED has been sent to several TV models for testing and will be launched in small batches next year. If the testing progress goes well, shipments can be ramped up the year after.