Adhesive developer and MicroLED Association member DELO has conducted in-house feasibility studies, that shows that their directional conductive adhesives can be used to replace soldering in miniLED, and microLED displays. The bonding was found to be reliable with high yields.

DELO says that current microLED displays use solder materials to interconnect the LEDs to the display backplane. But as chip size gets smaller, isotopic conductive materials (like solder) is not reliable as it is difficult to avoid short circuits, and so production yields suffer.

On September 24-26, the inaugural MicroLED-Connect event took place in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. It was an extremely successful event, with attendees, speakers and exhibitors from all over the world there to discuss the latest microLED innovations and updates. It is clear that there's much interest and driving force behind the microLED industry.

MicroLED-Connect hosted over 40 speakers and 8 masterclasses, providing a wealth of information by leading display makers and supply chain companies, researchers, material makers, market analysts, investors, application developers, and more. The agenda included speakers from Google, Meta, TCL CSoT, KAUST, JCDecaux, CEA/Leti, GlobalFoundries, Aixtron, Continental, Applied Materials, imec.Xpand, VueReal, ALLOS and many more.

Earlier this month we reported about a mention of a possible microLED smartwatch in Garmin's Bluetooth connection software. Now Garmin watch face developers noticed the mention of the Fenix 8 MicroLED device in the list of compatible devices:

Garmin's Fenix 8 series is the company's high-end smartwatch series, that adopts the latest technology, so it could make sense for Garmin to adopt the first microLED display in that series.

In March 2024, Apple decided to cancel its microLED project to develop and produce its own wearable display. Apple started developing microLED displays for wearable devices years ago, first aiming to launch the first product in 2023. The project was delayed several times, as the cost of production for microLED displays was too high for Apple, to the point where it was suggested Apple's goal is to launch the first microLED watch in 2027. But that project was cancelled.

Apple's decision made many people pessimistic about microLED displays, especially in the near term. We already posted an article speculating how Apple's decision may affect the industry. And as we also know, Apple has several other active microLED projects still under development.

A twitter account (@Jukanlosreve) that is new but said to be reputable under a different username, now suggests that Apple indeed has not given up on microLEDs. Apple is still developing an AR headset based on microLED microdisplays, which it hopes to release in 2026. The company also still plans to release a microLED smartwatch in 2026.

Today we published a new edition of our MicroLED and OLED Microdisplays Market Report, with all the latest information. The new edition offers more that a dozen new updates, new companies, new brochures and catalogs, and more. It is a major release with over 10 updates, new companies, new predictions and new devices. Global multinational companies are working hard to develop and deploy next-generation AR and VR devices, and these devices will all be based on OLED and microLED microdisplay engines.

Reading this report, you'll learn all about:

• The advantages of OLED and MicroLED microdisplays
• The microdisplays that are available on the market today
• Information on all companies involved in this market
• Future technologies and roadmaps

The report package also provides:

• A list of all OLED microdisplays on the market
• A list of all OLED and MicroLED microdisplays makers
• Microdisplays spreadsheet
• Over 25 datasheets, presentations
• Free updates for a year

This microdisplays market report provides a great introduction to MicroLED and OLED microdisplays, and covers everything you need to know about the current status of the market and industry. This is a great guide if you're considering to adopt OLED microdisplays in your product, if you're looking to learn more about next-generation micro-LEDs and if you want to understand this industry better.

The MicroLED Industry Association, in collaboration with Techblick, concluded a highly successful microLED industry event last week. MicroLED-Connect 2024, which took place in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, brought together over 200 industry professionals, supply chain companies, researchers, investors and early stage developers.

During the event, over 40 speakers, including microLED professionals from Google, Meta, Osram, Coherent, Continental, VueReal, GlobalFoundries, and others, discusses the latest innovations, roadmaps, challenges and applications of microLEDs. 

MicroLED Industry Association member XPANCEO announced a partnership with Jade Bird Display (JBD) to develop integrated microLED displays for XPANCEO's smart contact lens platform.

It turns out the two companies have been working already on two different approaches. The first one (shown in the image above) uses a project and hologram combination, projecting an image at a distance so the eye can focus on it. XPANCEO already tested this approach with JBD's microLED projector, as an external device to the contact lens, and now the two companies are aiming to integrate the microLED projector unto the lens.

Meta announced a new AR headset, called Orion. The glasses, that Meta says costs $10,000 to produce (and will probably be sold to something like that as well) are powered by microLED microdisplays. Orion packs quite advanced technology, including Silicon Carbide lens and advanced AI, but this is of course actually a prototype device, that Meta will offer commercially to developers or (very) early adopters. The Orion glasses weigh 98 grams, which still way more than what people consider to be light weight glasses (usually under 30 grams).

It is very nice to see the adoption of microLED technology by Meta. While some speculate that these microLED displays are made in-house by Meta using the Plessey Semiconductor technology and production line, it is also known that the company gave up on that course, and others speculate that these displays are produced by JBD, and are made from 3 separate monochrome microLED panels.

This is a sponsored post by Coherent

Excimer-based laser induced forward transfer (LIFT) is a practical mass transfer process for today and tomorrow

MicroLEDs stand at the forefront of next generation display technologies because they offer superior brightness, efficiency, and longevity over other panel types. In fact, the advantages of microLEDs are so significant that they promise transformative applications ranging from advanced smartwatches to expansive AR/VR experiences.

However, the display industry faced a significant setback when tech giant Apple abandoned its ambitious microLED project after years of heavy investment (estimated at over US$3 billion since 2014). Apple hasn’t publicly announced their reasoning for this move.

Pyramidical GaN microLED develop Polar Light Technologies announce a partnership with die bonding solution developer Finetech, to co-develop microLED technologies. The two companies already started developing microLED microdisplay applications. 

Polar Light Technologies and Finetech developed a modified flip-chip cold bonding technique that ensures accurate alignment between the microLEDs and the electronics. The two companies say that in early trials, this method showed an impressive 85% success rate, proving its potential for large-scale manufacturing.