In July 2019 Taiwan-based microLED developer PlayNitride raised $50 million to start trial production of microLED displays. According to a new report from Taiwan, the company plans to raise an additional $50 million by the end of September 2020 to funds it second microLED production line.
PlayNitride started volume production at its first production line in 2019, for small wearable displays, and the first displays are now being "validated" by customers. Shipments are likely to begin next year.
PlayNitride is considering several production models - from constructing its own production lines, through a joint-venture with strategic partners to the licensing of its technology. PlayNitride is targeting the wearables, automotive and large-size TV markets, and is working with more than 10 potential customers. For the wearables market, the company has a strategic partnership with RiTDisplay and according to reports the two companies are in talks with Apple to supply future wearable displays. At SID DisplayWeek 2019 PlayNitride demonstrated a high-brightness, high-resolution passive-matrix wearable micro-LED display.
PlayNitride is working with both TianMa and CSoT towards automotive transparent micro-LED displays. At Displayweek Tianma demonstrated a 7.56" 720x480 (114 PPI) transparent Micro-LED prototype, which was developed together with PlayNitride on Tianma's LTPS backplanes. PlayNitride demonstrated the same display at its own booth. At the same event, CSoT showed a 3.3" transparent micro-LED prototype, also developed with PlayNitride.
In the large-size TV market, PlayNitride is reportedly supplying Samsung with the micro-LED chips and technologies used in Samsung's "consumer-level" micro-LED TVs.