Under the continuous support of policies and the accelerated layout of terminal manufacturers, MiniLED will usher in accelerated popularization in 2021 and become a new profit growth point in the LED display industry. At the same time, Micro LED has also begun to show its sharp edge, and key technologies such as huge transfer have also made certain breakthroughs, and the future development can be expected.
Mini/Micro LED, a premium track with a new display
Looking back at 2021, the application of MiniLED backlight products has expanded rapidly, and major brand terminals such as Apple, Samsung and TCL have successively launched MiniLED backlight products, covering tablets, notebooks, TVs and displays, which has greatly accelerated the commercialization process of MiniLED and driven the development of the MiniLED industry chain.
LeDinside, the Optoelectronic Research Office of TrendForce Jibang Consulting, expects that miniLED TV shipments will challenge 4.5 million units in 2022, and shipments of MiniLED backlit LCD monitors and MiniLED backlit laptops will also grow to varying degrees.
At a time when MiniLED is booming, the commercialization process of Micro LED is also accelerating. Under the layout of overseas terminal brands such as Sony, Samsung, LG and domestic manufacturers such as BOE, Konka, Hisense, Leyard, Zhouming Technology, Lehman Optoelectronics, micro LED large-scale displays have also begun to move towards the home theater level and high-end commercial display market.
At the same time, as the popularity of the meta-universe concept continues to rise, AR/VR technology as the entrance to the meta-universe has also received widespread attention, among which, the display as an important part of the AR/VR/MR/XR equipment has also become a new point of strength in the LED industry, manufacturers have focused on Mini/Micro LED micro-display technology, grasp the business opportunities of the meta-universe. Under this trend, the market demand for Mini/Micro LED displays will also gradually grow.
LED display factory accelerates the layout of Mini/Micro LED
Since 2021, under the continuous increase of major terminal brands, the demand for Mini/Micro LED has increased significantly, and downstream LED display manufacturers have joined the construction team of Mini/Micro LED.
MiniLED: Leyard MiniLED backlight products mass production landing, Zhouming Technology 5 newly expanded MiniLED production lines have been put into production, Lianjian Optoelectronics R & D and optimization of MiniLED and other new products, Alto Electronics MiniLED display products have been mass production......
Micro LED: Lehman Optoelectronics has carried out the third round of Micro LED expansion, Leyard and Huaxing cooperated to develop Micro LED COG products into the mass production and development stage, Abison has laid out a series of Micro LED COB packaging structure intellectual property rights, Zhouming Technology is carrying out Micro LED silicon-based, glass-based technology research...
The specific progress and planning of the 6 major LED display companies Mini/Micro LED business are as follows:
Relying on years of technical reserves and the improvement of research and development capabilities, LED display companies have also made breakthroughs to varying degrees in Mini/Micro LED-related technologies, and the cost will gradually decline. According to LEDinside, the current 6 major LED display companies Mini/Micro LED related technology breakthroughs are as follows:
The display application needs are diversified, and Mini/Micro LED ushers in more business opportunities
At a time when the development of Mini/Micro LED technology is in full swing, the demand for emerging applications such as naked-eye 3D, movie screens, XR virtual shooting, and conference all-in-one machines is also growing, which will also bring more incremental space for Mini/Micro LED in the future.
Naked eye 3D
Naked-eye 3D display is in full swing in the fields of culture, tourism, business, media and other fields, and six LED companies, namely Leyard, Zhouming Technology, Lehman Optoelectronics, Absen, Alto Electronics and Lianjian Optoelectronics, are actively deployed.
Movie screen
Nowadays, LED movie screens have become a popular track for display companies to compete. In November last year, the official website of the National Film Administration released the "14th Five-Year Plan for The Development of Chinese Films", proposing to focus on researching technologies and equipment such as LED screens in cinemas with independent intellectual property rights, seizing the commanding heights of technology, breaking the monopoly of foreign technology, and striving to improve the participation and guidance capabilities of international standards.
The proposal of "Planning" has further promoted the development of the LED film screen industry, with cost advantages, localization of LED film screens can allow cinemas to obtain greater differentiation advantages, and the film screen market is expected to usher in a new round of development. At the same time, with the joint efforts of display companies, domestic film screens will also shine on the international stage.
At present, Zhouming Technology, Leyard, Lehman Optoelectronics, Absen and Alto Electronics have made the following progress in the field of movie screens:
XR virtual shooting
The combination of XR virtual shooting technology and display screen can realize the rapid switching of virtual scenes in the virtual studio, and the on-site shooting screen can render the output in real time, reduce shooting costs and improve shooting efficiency, which can be specifically applied to film production, television program production, advertising shooting, live streaming with goods, content scene live broadcast, reality show live broadcast, car commentary and many other scenes, and the development momentum is very strong.
In order to meet the development opportunities of XR virtual shooting, Leyard, Zhouming Technology, Lehman Optoelectronics, Absen, Alto Electronics and Lianjian Optoelectronics have launched key layouts.
It is worth noting that the meta-universe has set off a boom, which is also expected to accelerate the commercialization of Mini/Micro LED.
Since 2021, meta-universe has become a new hot spot in the global capital market, and enterprises are scrambling to increase their layout or enter the game. With rich experience accumulated in the fields of naked-eye 3D, movie screen, XR virtual shooting and other fields, LED display companies are expected to usher in new development opportunities in the meta-universe era.
In an interview with LEDinside, Lied said that at present, the micro-display screen of the meta-universe VR/AR/MR has become the field of accelerated layout of China's leading display companies, and with the development of the meta-universe and the gradual improvement of social acceptance, there is a huge market space for interactive displays. The company will combine the technical advantages of its subsidiaries and actively establish cooperation with other manufacturers to jointly promote the development of the meta-universe ecology.
Lehman Optoelectronics said that Micro LED has ultra-high-definition display capabilities, whether in the field of small size and super-size display, metacosm is a huge market opportunity for Micro LED display. The company is also actively laying out immersive display technology based on Micro LED, and will actively enter the relevant display field of the metaverse.
In terms of technology path, Zhouming Technology believes that if it breaks through quantitative production technology, Micro LED is very likely to become a subversive and transformative next-generation mainstream display technology, bringing a new round of display technology upgrading. At present, the company has invested a lot of manpower, material and financial resources to carry out the research and development of Micro LED related core technologies and prototypes.
In addition, Alto Electronics said that real-time interaction, glasses-free 3D technology and LED display interaction capabilities will be major challenges for immersive LED application scenarios. Each round of technological subversive innovation is the result of long-term cultivation in the field of scientific research, and the company will take the lead in development, opening up a path for the latecomers, with a long way to go and continuous breakthroughs.
The industrial chain is accelerating the layout, and Mini/Micro LED is poised to develop
At present, Mini/Micro LED new display technology is developing rapidly, upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain are accelerating their actions, TV manufacturers and mobile phone manufacturers have also been involved in the mini/Micro LED field, it is foreseeable that the competition in the field of Mini/Micro LED will be more intense in the future.
Leyard said that in the future, micro LED entry threshold is higher, and its development not only involves competition with competing technology, but also involves the competition of industrial chain and ecology, and it is necessary to integrate the industrial chain for cooperative development. The company will start from the downstream application end and drive the industrial chain forward by strengthening cooperation with key technology enterprises in the production process.
In this regard, Alto Electronics believes that due to the industry's vague definition of MiniLED and Micro LED, the overall performance of the industry is now a hundred flowers, a hundred contending situation enterprises need to do a good job in the future market technology reserves, in order to maintain the industry's leading edge in technology.
Coincidentally, Lehman Optoelectronics also said that the future competition in the Mini/Micro LED display field will become more and more fierce, LED display factories, LED packaging factories, traditional panel factories, etc. are actively deployed into the micro LED display field, and due to the integration of different industries, bringing about the diversification of Micro LED display technology.
In the face of the competitive landscape of the Mini/Micro LED industry, Zhouming Technology actively lays out Mini/Micro LED through cross-border cooperation/mergers and acquisitions.
Zhouming Technology said that the company and the upstream and downstream of the industry and surrounding industry enterprises to carry out strategic cross-border cooperation, can achieve complementary advantages; but also in the active layout of investment and financing mergers and acquisitions of technology-based companies with strategic control points.
It can be seen that with the strong support of national policies and the unremitting efforts of industrial chain enterprises, Mini/Micro LED has entered a new stage of high-quality rapid development, and the industrial pattern will also change. In the future, with the continuous expansion of application scenarios, the gradual release of production capacity, the continuous maturity of technology, and the gradual decline in costs, the Mini/Micro LED industry will usher in greater development space. (Text: LEDinside Mia)
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