On March 9, Apple held the 2022 spring new product launch conference, which is still online. Launched the iPhone SE III, the new iPad Air, and new products such as the M1 Ultra and Mac Stuido. At this eye-catching conference, although the technology used in apple's official store will not be released to release the technology used in the product screen, according to the known parameters, the new product is not equipped with a more high-end Mini LED, does it mean that the Mini LED display is no longer respected by the market?
Obviously, this is not the case. Since Apple launched its first Mini LED product in 2021, Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro and 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro have adopted Mini LED screens as of now. As Apple's own leading position has accelerated the penetration of Mini LED technology, at the CES Consumer Electronics Show that ended in January, Samsung, Sony, LG, Asus and other manufacturers launched their own Mini LED TVs, laptops, displays and other products. Guosheng Securities said that the current Mini LED backlight scheme has entered an explosive period, and it is expected that more related products will appear in 2022.
According to relevant reports, apple in order to consolidate the scale of Mini LED mass production, and actively add other suppliers, China's LED manufacturer Sanan Optoelectronics obtained Apple certification, is expected to join the Mini LED supply ranks as soon as the second quarter. Sanan Optoelectronics announced on March 8 that since the beginning of 2022, the company has continued to receive international single important major customer Mini LED chip purchase orders, the amount of more than 170 million yuan, of which January-February 2022 has completed the delivery of about 100 million yuan, the remaining amount will be delivered to customers in March. The company has organized the production capacity of the products required by customers to meet the chip demand of customers in March. According to the relevant information revealed, the international company is most likely Apple.
This is another Chinese Mini LED chip manufacturer that has successfully entered the Apple supply chain after Fucai. It can be seen that the Mini LED screen market is expanding, and in the new round of Mini LED screen competition, Chinese players will become the main force.
Coincidentally, TCL will hold a QD-Mini LED spring new product launch conference at 19:30 on March 9, and it is expected to release a new TV series. QD-Mini LED is The Mini LED technology that uses quantum dot technology. This is not a sudden Mini LED screen boom, domestic screen manufacturers have long been prepared for this wave of outbreaks. This may be a sign before the explosion of Mini LED screens.
Mini LED screens have been quietly and silently, beginning to penetrate into all aspects of people's lives, such as the latest Apple tablets, Huawei smart screens, and even some VR headsets are equipped with Mini LED display screens. Not only that, foreign screen giants such as Samsung, Sony, and LG are also launching new products equipped with Mini LED screens one after another. On the one hand, this shows that major screen manufacturers are paying close attention to the mini LED screen track, on the other hand, it also reveals that the production yield of Mini LED screens has achieved a new breakthrough, which can be landed on a large scale in a certain segment of the consumer electronics field.
In fact, since the second half of last year, panel prices have fallen for nearly 8 consecutive months due to the saturation of terminal demand. In the face of the market decline of LCD screens, domestic manufacturers want to find a new screen to achieve capacity transformation, Mini LED has become a new solution. With the increase in market penetration of Mini LED screens, upstream, middle and downstream manufacturers have entered the market, driving the rapid development of the Mini LED industry. Overall, behind the outbreak of Mini LED screens, it is inseparable from the layout of the domestic Mini LED supply chain in chips, packaging equipment and production equipment.
1
LED chip
At present, the leading domestic chip manufacturers Sanan Optoelectronics, HC Semitek, Jucan Electronics have a production line specializing in the production of Mini LED chips. According to industry reports, the global demand for 4-inch Mini LED chips will be about 1 million pieces in 2021, and it is expected to be close to 9 million pieces by 2025.
2
LED package
LED manufacturers in the packaging and testing end mainly include mainland manufacturers such as Guoxing Optoelectronics, Mulinsen and Hongli Zhihui, as well as Taiwan manufacturers such as Longda Electronics. Mainland manufacturers such as Guoxing Optoelectronics, Hongli Zhihui and Ruifeng Optoelectronics have achieved mature product shipments. Among them, Guoxing Optoelectronics has cooperated with a number of domestic and foreign display companies, and a variety of large-size TV backlight products have achieved mass production. Ruifeng Optoelectronics has worked closely with well-known electronic enterprises at home and abroad to develop various Mini LED backlight and display product solutions in display applications such as tablets, notebook computers, TVs, etc., and has released a number of Mini LED products in the leading market.
3
The equipment has been fully localized
Since Mini LED chips are smaller than LED chips, Mini LED screens are also more sophisticated in the manufacturing process. Among them, two devices are more important, one is the MOCVD for epitaxial wafer growth, and the other is the solid crystal device that transfers the chip to the substrate. The MOCVD device used in the growth of epitaxial wafers is also the most expensive device in the entire Mini LED chip manufacturing, so it is also related to the cost of Mini LED chips.
At present, domestic companies such as Zhongwei and Zhongsheng can reduce the procurement cost of MOCVD to 10 million / unit, which is 50% lower than the previous price. As for solid crystal equipment, the domestic solid crystal manufacturer Xinyichang has a market share of more than 70% in the domestic solid crystal machine market, a customer penetration rate of more than 90%, ranking third in the world, and its solid crystal machine production yield reaches 99.9998%, the accuracy will be improved to 5um, and the production capacity will reach 150K.
4
Downstream direct end
Mini LED direct display has been mass production in 2018, initially mainly used for commercial advertising and outdoor large-scale display, etc., at present, under the layout of the LED industry chain manufacturers have technology, production capacity, yield conditions, is expected to enter the 4K/8K large-size LED display field, mainly used in the commercial display market. Direct display manufacturers include Leyard, Zhouming Technology, Absen, Lehman Optoelectronics and MTC.
2021 is known as the first year of mini LED commercial applications, Mini LED screens gradually began to be applied in different fields such as tablets, computers, monitors and other high-end products, Apple, Huawei, Sony, Samsung, TCL manufacturers also saw the advantages of Mini LED early, and successively launched corresponding products. Mini LED industry is on the eve of the outbreak, Mini LED industry is fully accelerating, whether domestic manufacturers can eat the first wave of Mini LED screen dividends, successfully "lane change overtaking", we wait and see.
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