The development of new display technologies is accelerating. Who will become the industry's favorite first?

When it comes to new display technologies, everyone will invariably think of Mini/Micro LED. As the ultimate LED display technology, people have high hopes for it. According to the definition, Mini LED refers to LED devices with a chip size of 50-200 microns, while Micro LED refers to LED devices with a chip size below 50 microns (75, 80, and 100 microns are also used as dividing lines). MiniLED is a technology between LED and MicroLED, so it is also called a transition technology. After a period of competition, who is expected to become the industry leader? Let’s take a look.

Mini/Micro LED commercialization is accelerating

COB packaging technology leads the future

Mini/Micro LED market prospects are very broad. According to Arizton data, the global Mini LED market size will grow from US$150 million in 2021 to US$2.32 billion in 2024, with an average annual compound growth rate of 149.2% from 2021 to 2024.

Mini/Micro LED has a wide range of applications. It can be applied not only to traditional LED display fields (including monitoring centers, conference rooms, sports, finance, banks, etc.), but also to electronic consumer fields such as mobile phones, TVs, computers, pads, VR/AR headsets, etc. At present, the main battlefield for Mini/Micro LED is still in the medium and large-sized application market. In the future, as Micro LED technology matures and the cost decreases, it will further expand to the small and medium-sized display application market for close viewing. At present, products such as Mini/Micro LED large-size TVs and LED all-in-one machines around 100 inches are gradually being launched.

Market application is promoting

Small and micro spacing technology and product upgrading

In June this year, the State Administration of Radio and Television issued the "Opinions on Further Accelerating the Development of High-Definition and Ultra-HD TV" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"). The "Opinions" propose that by the end of 2025, TV stations at prefecture-level and above and qualified county-level TV stations across the country will have fully completed the conversion from standard definition to high definition, standard definition channels will be basically shut down, high-definition TV will become the basic TV broadcast mode, and ultra-high-definition TV channels and program supply will form a scale. The radio and television transmission coverage network has significantly enhanced its carrying capacity for high-definition and ultra-high-definition TV, and high-definition and ultra-high-definition TV receiving terminals have become basically popular. Currently, IChinese TV is generally still in the 2K stage. With the promotion of national policies, it is entering the 4K promotion stage and will enter the 8K ultra-high definition ranks in the future. As for the LED display industry, to achieve the goal of 4K and 8K indoors, it cannot do without mature Mini/MicroLED technology.

Since traditional SMD single lamp packaging technology is difficult to meet the demand for Mini/Micro LED products below P0.9, and 4K and 8K LED large screens must reduce their pixel spacing under limited indoor floor heights, COB packaging technology has also received market attention. COB technology products have strong stability and higher protective properties (waterproof, electricity-proof, moisture-proof, anti-collision, dust-proof), and also solve the physical limit problems encountered by traditional SMD. However, COB also brings new problems, such as poor heat dissipation, maintenance difficulties, ink color consistency issues, etc.

At present, the cost of COB is still relatively high. It is understood that the current price for formal chips is 2 yuan/K group, and for flip-chip chips it is 14 yuan/K group. In order to achieve mass production faster, transitional technologies such as MIP, IMD, and GOB have been derived on the market, but COB will still be the mainstream technology for Mini/Micro LED in the future.

COB packaging technology has not been developed for a long time. The world's first COB display screen was born in 2017, and it has only been five years since its launch. Due to the difficulty of the process, there are not many screen companies and packaging companies that have deployed it. On the contrary, my country's LED chip companies are continuously increasing research and development efforts in the field of Mini/Micro level chips, and Micro chips have begun mass production.

With Mini/Micro The advancement of LED technology, its commercialization process is accelerating, and the huge market demand for new display applications in the future is forcing traditional packaging companies to expand from SMD packaging technology to COB technology. However, under the current environment and limited application markets, coupled with the fact that traditional packaging technologies such as SMD single lamp + GOB and IMD can basically meet the needs of most of the current market, many companies are unwilling to rashly increase investment in COB products. They are in a dilemma.

So, who will promote the development of new display technologies? Screen Display World believes that under the guidance of policies, it is either driven by the market or driven by capital. Obviously, the current market size is not enough to touch those big capital giants. Although the new Mini/Micro LED display field is a capital-heavy industry, its market prospects are still first recognized by our "own people". They are upstream chip companies that control the core of light sources and packaging.A midstream packaging enterprise with packaging technology, a display and downstream application giant with mastery of resources.

Leading new display technologies

Chip and packaging companies will become the industry's "hot cakes"

The entire Mini/Micro LED industry chain is very long, including upstream materials, midstream manufacturing, and downstream applications. The most critical part is the upstream and midstream chips and packaging links, which account for the highest cost. Currently, chip and packaging companies dominate the industry. Screen Display World predicted two years ago that in the future chip and packaging companies will develop in the direction of deep integration and integration, and even vertical layout and horizontal integration of the entire industry chain. Since this year, industrial integration has gradually increased. Sanan Optoelectronics, Qianzhao Optoelectronics, and Huacan Optoelectronics have all made moves. Their partners are TCL CSOT, Hisense Vision, and BOE, all leaders in the TV and LCD display industries. Nationstar Optoelectronics’ plan to acquire 60% of the equity of Yancheng Dongshan Precision will directly change the market structure of the RGB packaging field. We can see that the value of the entire industrial chain is shifting to the midstream and upstream, and the industrial form and industrial ecology are changing.

In the new display field, the number of new companies entering the field is constantly increasing, including giants in IT, TV, LCD panels, security, audio and video and other fields. As of August this year, the total investment scale in the new display field has exceededWith over 60 billion yuan, they are jointly promoting the rapid development of the new display industry market and technology. Of course, they are also causing the traditional display industry to face changes in its rigid structure.

After decades of reshuffle in the domestic LED display industry, a small number of chip and packaging companies have become the "hot meat" of cross-border giants; the formation of the dominant position of new display packaging technologies such as COB will continue to promote more market integration. After all, in the eyes of "cross-border people", whoever masters the core technology will lead the industry and lead the future.