July 2018

In May 2018 AUO demonstrated its first micro-LED display - a 8" 1280x480 (169 PPI) display which AUO says it is the world's highest resolution full-color TFT micro-LED prototype ever demonstrated.

AUO did not publish any roadmaps to commercialize micro-LEDs. At the company's recent earning report, AUO disclosed that it does plan to use micro-LEDs in niche products in the future - but following years of R&D, micro-LEDs are still too expensive and are not ready for mass production yet.

Samsung Electronics says that the global market for Micro-LED displays will reach $4.5 billion in 2025 - up from $14 million in 2018. Samsung did not say whether this is its own market estimates.

A few days ago Samsung said it will soon release a high-end version of its modular Micro-LED display.

Samsung Electronics video and display chief, Han Jong-hee, says that Samsung aims to release a Micro-LED consumer TV next year. The TV will be a high-end premium set that will be called the Wall Luxury - and will not be priced as high as people think.

Samsung 146-inch Wall Professional TV

It's not clear whether this consumer version of The Wall professional will be modular. Han did say that it will be thinner than the current version at only 30 mm thick (the Wall Professional is 80 mm thick). This is still quite thick compared to current OLED TVs.

n-tech Research says that the Micro-LED market will emerge in 2019, with sales reaching $2.7 billion. The market will grow very quickly to reach over $70 billion in 2027.

n-Tech says that the immediate markets for Micro-LED displays will be near-eye displays (AR/VR), automotive HUDs and projectors - as these will benefit mostly from the small size, low weight, high brightness and high resolution of Micro-LED displays. Wearables (smartwatches) is another lucrative market (n-Tech sees $1.6 billion in smartwatch Micro-LED display sales in 2022).

Yole Developpement says that there are still several challenges to solve before AR systems that are good enough for mass usage are developed. Yole sees the market finally emerging in 2022 or 2023.

Yole sees three display technologies dominating this market - DLP, LCoS and MicroLED displays. OLEDs are very promising for this market as of today, but by the time AR systems are mass produced (2022/2023) MicroLED displays will prove better than OLEDs.

France-based 3D GaN LED developer Aledia has selected Veeco Instruments’s Propel GaN metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) system to support its advanced R&D. Aledia aims to scale up its technology for large-area silicon using Veeco's system.

Veeco's Propel system will enable Aledia to process 6- and 8-in. wafers or 2- to 4-in. wafers in a minibatch mode. Aledia already uses Veeco's K465i MOCVD system.

Japanese-based LED maker Nichia says that the company has been developing Micro-LED technologies for several years, and the company can produce micro-LED chips - but the company estimates that it will take at least four years for Micro-LED displays to reach real commercialization.

Nichia is not only developing Micro-LED chips, the company also develops transfer technology and related equipment.

Shanghai-based Micro-LED microdisplay developer JBD demonstrated its latest Microdisplay that achieve an extremely high brightness - 1 million nits. The display resolution is VGA. JBD is already offering its monochrome VGA micro-LED microdisplays commercially (but we're not sure if these are the 1 million nits ones).

JBD's current micro-LED process still suffers from low yields, but the company hopes to achieve at least a 70% yield in the future, which will enable it to bring prices down to about $10 to $20 per display.