San'an Optoelectronics

In 2019 San'an Optoelectronics announced that it is planning to build a $1.78 billion miniLED and microLED production site in Hubei. The plans, originally, was to start production in March 2021. The construction was delayed, though, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and a few years later San'an delayed its plans and aimed to start producing LEDs in Hubei in 2026.

Today San'an announced that it is delaying the production of miniLED and microLED at the Hubei plant - to June 2028. San'an said that the decision to delay was due to macroeconomic volatility, sluggish markets and slower-than-expected progress in critical microLED processes. So far the company invested 51% of the $1.78 billion, and as it "aims to avoid premature capacity buildup amid market uncertainty".

In August 2025, China-based San’an Optoelectronics announced that it is set to acquire Netherlands-based LED producer Lumileds, for $239 million in cash. This acquisition was terminated today, after the US Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) did not approve the transaction due to 'national security concerns'.

Lumileds was originally a joint-venture between Philips and Agilent aimed to develop and produce LED lighting solutions mainly for the automotive industry and architectural lighting. Lumiled's revenues were around $600 million in 2024. The company is the world's third largest automotive LED maker, behind ams OSRAM and Nichia. It was to be a strategic acquisition for San'an.

China-based San’an Optoelectronics is collaborating with Tsinghua University and China Mobile to develop microLED-based optical communication solutions.

San'an has recently successfully developed a microLED based device with high-speed modulation capability. It is reported that the company's tests have demonstrated a 3dB modulation bandwidth exceeding 7 GHz. Based on communication models, San'an's NRZ-OOK data transmission rate is expected to surpass 10Gb/s/.

China-based San’an Optoelectronics announced that it is progressing with its microLED products for AR applications, and is moving from the technology verification state, to the small-batch verification stage. 

San'an further says that it is working with both domestic and global device makers to optimize its microLED products.

China-based San’an Optoelectronics announced that it is set to acquire Netherlands-based LED producer Lumileds, for $239 million in cash.

Lumleds was originally a joint-venture between Philips and Agilent aimed to develop and produce LED lighting solutions mainly for the automotive industry and architectural lighting. The company develops microLED technologies. Back in 2024, Lumileds together with XDC demonstrated a production-ready 140 PPI micro-IC driven microLED display. The display was based on Lumiled's 13x20 micron LEDs. 

China-based San'an Optoelectronics is experiencing increased demand for its microLED wafers, and the company is expanding its production capacity. San'an currently has the capacity to produce 250 6" microLED wafers per month, and by the end of the quarter, it will be increase its capacity to 1,400 monthly wafers.

San'an also has passed Samsung's audit and microLED validation tests for its latest chips, and the company is now entering into Samsung's supply chain for the company's large-area tiled Wall microLED TVs. 

In 2019 San'an Optoelectronics announced that it aiming to build a $1.78 billion Mini-LED and Micro-LED production site in Hubei, with plans to start production in March 2021. Later it was reported that the construction is delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the latest news from China, the production is actually progressing well and San'an plans to start trial production by the end of the month. The second stage phase of the construction project is actually starting ahead of schedule - by half a year.

In 2019 San'an Optoelectronics announced that it aiming to build a $1.78 billion Mini-LED and Micro-LED production site in Hubei. The project will include a LED production plant, an R&D center and also a sales offices.

The plant construction was said to take up to 3 years, and production to begin a year later. According to a news report from China, construction was delayed due to the COVID pandemic, but Sanan now resumed construction the new facility.

China-based display producer China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT, owned by TCL) announced a joint-venture with Xiamen Sanan Integrated Circuit (Sanan-IC, owned by San'an Optoelectronics) to develop micro LED materials and production processes and equipment.

The two companies will invest a total of 300 million Yuan (around $43 million USD) in the new venture, with CSoT holding 55%.

According to a new report, China's LED producer Sanan Optoelectronics developed 10x20 micron LED devices (micro-LEDs) and is offering sample chips and testing data for microLED display makers. San'an aims to start producing these micro-LED chips on 6" wafers in Q4 2019.

Most microLED displays use chips produced on 4" wafers, and the move to 6" will enable lower production costs.