A few days ago, AUO announced that it has finalized the development of its wearable microLED display, and the company is now launching the 1.39" round smartwatch display commercially, with mass production expected in the second half of 2023.

Yesterday AUO announced that it plans to convert its LCD 5A fab in Taiwan's Longtan District into a microLED production line. The new line will begin microLED production in 2025 or 2026, targeting wearable displays, automotive displays, TVs and signage displays. 

AU Optronics released some very interesting information as the company gets ready to showcase its latest microLED displays and technologies at Touch Taiwan 2023.

So first of all, AUO announced that it has finalized the development of its wearable microLED display, and the company is now launching the 1.39" round smartwatch display commercially. AUO demonstrated the wearable microLED display back in 2021 - a 1.39-inch 472x472 full-circle panel, that was developed together with PlayNitride. It's not clear when AUO actually plans to start selling this display to its customers, and what will be its production capacity.

MicroLED developer VueReal announced that it was awarded CAD$10.5 million (USD$7.7 million) in government support to scale up its micropixel fabrication and printing solutions. Vuereal will receive the funds from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) and InvestOntario.

VueReal says that this funding will be part of a CAD$40 million production line facility project, that will employ 75 full permanent jobs in Waterloo, Canada.

AU Optronics revealed that the company plans to start mass producing microLED displays for wearable applications by the end of 2023. The company developed its own mass transfer technology that it says makes it possible to produce displays commercially. The company also plans to use microLED display technology to produce automotive displays, and TVs, later on.

AUO demonstrated a wearable microLED display back in 2021 - a a 1.39-inch 472x472 (338 PPI) full-circle panel, that was developed together with PlayNitride.

The MicroLED Association is hosting an open webinar in which we will give a talk focused on microLED yields: explaining the problem and its implications, and discussing the various strategies and next-generation technologies by microLED association members that aim to overcome and mitigate the problem.

The webinar will take place on February 21st (Tuesday) at 16:00 CET. You can use the following link to register, at no cost.

Aixtron announced today that ams OSRAM has qualified Aixtron's AIX G5+ C and G10-AsP MOCVD systems on 200mm wafers for a Micro LED production.

ams Osram will be using Aixtron's systmes at its upcoming 200 mm mass production line in Malaysia, which is expected to begin production in 2024.

The MicroLED Industry Association published today a new white paper, that is focused on MicroLED production yields. This whitepaper discusses microLED yields, the current status, challenges ahead and several strategies and technologies that should help to mitigate the yield problem. Together with the white paper, the association is also hosting an open webinar.

Yield is an important parameter for display makers, as low yields can drastically increase production costs per panel sold. In the microLED industry, yields are even more crucial and are still a major challenge. In addition, as microLED production involves several separate steps, the yield discussion is more complex compared to the situation in LCD or OLED production.

The white paper is published on the MicroLED Association's website, and is open to the public.

Specialized Korea-based LED developer Lumens announced that it has developed a Monolithic RGB epitaxial wafers for micro-LED display production. The new technology stacks the three color LEDs on on top of the other on the wafer.

A comparison between Lumen's stacked RGB transfer process (bottom) and the standard process (top)

A stacked microLED architecture improves the performance, while also making the transfer process more productive. The company says that its design will offer a dramatic reduction in the production costs - especially the transfer process, which is reduced to a third (in terms of number of transfer steps), while also doing all the process from a single wafer.

Apple's involvement in the microLED display market is not a secret, and rumors over the years suggested that the company's first microLED display will be adopted in a smartwatch project.A couple of weeks ago we heard estimates that Apple is working to produce a 2.1" microLED display, to be adopted in the next Watch Ultra device, due in late 2023 or (more likely in 2024).
 

DSCC's Ross Young gives an update today, saying that according to his information, LG Display is building a small production line that will make microLED backplanes for Apple. The line will begin operation in the second half of 2024, which means that the watch device itself will be released in 2025. This timeline makes more sense than an early launch in 2023.

In 2021, ams Osram announced that it will expand its LED production plant in Kulim, Malaysia, with an investment of around $850 million. Osram plans to produce mini-LED and micro-LED chips on 8-inch wafers in Kulim.

ams Osram already said it regards microLED as one of its key initiatives, and in a recent conference call the company's CEO emphasized that that microLED is one of the areas in which the company has clear advantages and is a market leader - and it will direct more efforts on microLEDs. The company is on track, it was revealed, to start microLED production in Kulim in 2024.