MicroLED-Connect 2026 wrapped up last week, and it was our best event so far. Attendance was up more than 25% over last year. Thank you to everyone who attended, spoke, exhibited and sponsored!
MicroLED-Connect 2026: break time and networking
The event began with the annual MicroLED Industry Association dinner, where more than 70 people from across the industry got together for an evening of networking.
The MicroLED Industry Association dinner, MicroLED-Connect 2026
The keynotes this year were excellent, with talks from Sony, Meta, Google, Microsoft, Aumovio and Mojo Vision. A few highlights:
- Google: Bernard Kress said that AR will stay a small market for now. Until it takes off, he suggested microLED companies should look to optical I/O as their main source of revenue.
- Meta shared its recent technical achievements in AR, along with its roadmap going forward.
- Microsoft gave the keynote for our new Optical I/O forum. The message was that the real bottleneck in AI is now the interconnect, not memory or compute.
Meta's keynote during MicroLED-Connect 2026, day 2
The new Optical I/O forum was one of the most popular parts of the program. AI datacenters need connectivity that uses less power, and a lot of money is now going into microLED-based optical interconnects as a result. The AR/VR area also drew a big crowd and had many strong talks. Both areas are of focus for many microLED developers, and are also the focus of most activities at the MicroLED Industry Association.
People left feeling good about where microLEDs are going. Mass-market microLED displays are still some years off, but the technical progress presented at the event was impressive. Meanwhile, optical I/O could bring the industry real revenue much sooner.
Attendees also joined tours of ASML and Morphotonics, which were a highlight for many of them.
Finally, MicroLED-Connect hosted two excellent forums, one focused on AR display engines (where Karl Guttag pitched microLEDs against LCOS, Lasers and OLEDs), and the second one focused on AR startup investment and VCs.
Karl Guttag's AR light-engine panel
We're already looking forward to MicroLED-Connect 2027! If you want to attend, speak, exhibit or sponsor next year, please contact us now. Early conversations get the best speaking slots and sponsorship options!
MicroLED-Connect is co-organized by the MicroLED Industry Association and Techblick.