LED developers

France-based Aledia, founded in 2011, developed a technology to grow 3D GaN LEDs on 200 mm and 300 mm silicon wafers using CMOS wafer-fabrication processes and tools. Aledia says that its LED chips are 25% cheaper compared to traditional planar LED chips, and these LEDs can be used for micro-LED displays.

Aledia raised over 360 million Euro in total, with the latest 120 million Euro round announced in October 2023. In 2020 Aledia announced that it plans to establish a 140 million euros LED production fab.

The company plans to start mass producing microLEDs towards the end of 2023. Aledia is a MicroLED Industry Association member.

Established in 2006, China-based Changelight is a manufacturer of LED devices, mostly for outdoor applications.

In 2018 it was reported that Changelight is developing both mini-LEDs and micro-LEDs. For micro-LED displays, Changelight focuses on chip and mass transfer technologies.

China-based Enkris Semiconductor is a GaN epi-foundry, that offers GaN-on-Silicon, GaN-on- SiC , GaN-on-Sapphire and GaN-on-GaN epi wafers with varied sizes.

In 2022 the company launched its first products for the microLED industry, its full-color RGB GaN-on-Si series, available in wafer sizes up to 300 mm.

Taiwan-based Ennostar was established in early 2021 as a joint venture between Epistar and Lextar. Ennostar is the holding company that owns both Epistar and Lextar, and together the two companies hold about 12.5% of the global LED chip market.

Ennostar official goal is to become a multinational investment platform for the compound semiconductor industries. Specifically the focus is on mini LEDs and microLEDs products and technologies.

Ennostar has three main areas, divided between its daughter companies: Epistar will focus on LED epitaxy and chip, Lextar will focus on packaging and module, and Unikorn Semiconductor Corp. (under Epistar) will develop advanced compound semiconductor foundry.

Taiwan-based Epileds Technologies was established in 2006 at the Tainan Science Park. Epileds develops, designs and produces blue, green, red, and white light LED wafers and chips.

In early 2018 it was reported that Epileds has initiated an R&D project to develop micro-LEDs and mini-LEDs. In May 2018 Foxconn acquired a stake in Epileds, with a specific interest in its micro-LED project.

Epistar Corp, based in Taiwan and established in 1996, is one of the world's largest LED producers. The company specializes in high-brightness LED devices for general lighting and consumer electronics.

Epistar is developing Micro LED chips but has yet to announce any products or market intentions. Some reports suggest the Epistar is likely to first produce 100-micron LEDs (in 2017) to be used in large displays. This will be followed by smaller LEDs for smaller displays.

In October 2018 Epistar established a wholly-owned subsidiary called Yenrich Technology that develops applications for mini LED and micro LED technologies.

In 2020 Epistar announced a merger with fellow Taiwanese LED maker Lextar.

Established in 2003 in the USA (with operations in Sweden as well) based on research performed at Lund University, Glo is developing GaN nanowire based micro LEDs for display applications. In 2021 the company was acquired by Nanosys.

Glo says that its Nanowires enable red, green and blue microLEDs with the reliability of an inorganic materials system. Glo is targeting the entire display market, from small-sized wearable displays to TV panels and large-area displays and can use its microLEDs on both CMOS and LTPS backplanes. Glo is a fabless operation - it has an manufacturing agreement with one of the world's largest LED makers to produce its microLED chips and it has also signed an agreement with one of the world's largest display makers to produce the actual MicroLED panels.

HC SemiTek Corporation, established in 2005 in Wuhan China, is a LED supplier that focuses on full-color ultra-high LED epitaxial products and chips.

In 2018 HC SemiTek announced it is launching a new project to develop Micro-LED chips.

Korea based ILJIN Display is a producer of sapphire substrates, and the only company in Korea that makers sapphire single crystal and substrates.

ILJIN supplies microLED substrates to microLED developers - including to Epistar, PlayNitride and Samsung Electronics.

Established in 2008 in Taiwan as a subsidiary of AU Optronics, Lextar Electronics Corporation is a leading LED developer. Lextar produces LED chips, LCD backlights, automotive LEDs, lumiaires and other lighting solutions.

In 2018 Lextar introduced its first micro-LED chips - both RGB ones and color conversion ones, both suitable for mass transfer processes.

In 2020 Lextar announced a merger with fellow Taiwanese LED maker Epistar. In October 2020 XDC and Lextar entered into development, licensing and services agreements.

Japan-based Micro Nitride was established in 2018 as a subsidiary of Nitride Semiconductors to develop micro UV LED chips for Micro-LED displays.

Micro Nitride's technology, called μUV-LED+RGB phosphor, uses UV micro-LEDs and RGB phosphors.

Japan-based Nichia Corporation is a leading chemical engineering and manufacturing company that produces LEDs, laser diodes, battery materials and more.

Nichia develops micro-LED chips, transfer technologies and related equipment.

Taiwan-based PlayNitride was established in June 2014 to research and develop Nitride related materials and applications. The fabless company is now focusing on GaN based MicroLEDs.

PlayNitride developed its own microLED epiwafer production process (using Aixtron's G5+ MOCVD systems), its own stamp-based transfer technology and also its own repair technology (SMAR.Tech).

PlayNitride is developing wearable passive-matrix PMOLEDs in a joint-venture with affiliate RiTDisplay. The company also developed a technology branded as PixeLED Matrix, which is a tiled microLED display module for TVs and signage.

Polar Light Technologies was spun-off from Sweden's Linköping University to commercialize a monolithic approach to produce pyramidal microLEDs using a MOCVD-based a bottom-up growth process.

Porotech was spun-off the University of Cambridge, to commercialize a porous GaN material platform technology using a unique production method.

Porotech targets several markets, including quantum computing, power electronics, lasers and microLEDs.

In 2020, Porotech secured a £1.5 million seed round investment. In November 2020, the company announced what it says is the first commercial native red LED epiwafer for micro-LED applications.

In June 2020 the company raised £3 million.

San’an Optoelectronics is China's largest LED epitaxial wafers and chips producer. San'an says it produces over 24 million epitaxial wafers and 300 billion LED chips annually - which is about 58% of the total production in China.

In 2018 San'an signed a long-term agreement with Samsung to co-develop and supply LED chips for Samsung's Micro-LED displays.

In 2019 San'an announced plans to setup a $1.8 billion Mini-LED and Micro-LED production center in Hubei, China.

Korea-based Seoul Semiconductor, established in 2000, develops and commercializes LEDs for automotive, general illumination, specialty lighting, and backlighting markets. The company says it is the world's second-largest LED maker (excluding the captive market). Seoul holds over 12,000 patents.

In January 2019 Seoul Semiconductor introduced Micro-LED products for next generation displays. In 2022 the company unveiled its WICOP technology to package vertically stacked microLEDs. The company demonstrated several prototypes and published a roadmap in May 2023.

Korea-based Seoul Viosys provides a wide range of UV wavelength LED devices and mass produces LED chips for all wavelengths, from 200 nm to 1600 nm.

In collaboration with Seoul Semiconductors, Seoul Viosys developed a new MicroLED technology, called Micro Clean LED that packages three separate LEDs (red, green and blue) into a single MicroLED pixel. In 2022 Seoul Viosys unveiled its WICOP mp MicroPixel technology.

China-based ShineOn, established in 2010, is a global LED package and module solution provide for the lighting and display markets.

ShineOn has been developing Micro-LED technologies since 2016, including its own laser-lift-off thin-film LED technology. In 2019 the company unveiled a 139" 4K Micro-LED display prototype it developed in collaboration with Korea-based Lumens.

Taiwan-based Unity Opto Technology, established in 1993, develops and markets a wide variety of LED products, including LED packages, LED back lighting for displays and automotive LED products.

In 2020 Unity Opto announced plans to invest $1.9 billion NT (around $64 million USD) to setup six new production lines for mini-LEDs and micro-LEDs.