The development of Micro LED technology has been a focal point in the industry with worldwide manufacturers continuously reporting their progress and revealing new breakthroughs and applications in 2018. Many leading brands have showcased or launched their latest Micro LED technologies and applications. As the third quarter of the year will soon end, LEDinside has collected the updated Micro LED applications released until now and would like to share the integrated information with the readers. 

Play Nitride has showcased several RGB Micro LED full color displays for automotive applications at SEMICON Taiwan 2018. The company has presented its capability of Micro LED chip production and mass transfer with its unique PixeLED Display technology. 

The German based research institute, the Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology, has developed OLED elements that can be integrated into textile. The development will be presented at the Electronics System Integration Technology Conference (ESTC) 2018 from September 18 – 21, 2018 in Dresden, Germany.

According to the latest research report of LEDinside “2019 Global LED Video Wall Market Outlook - Cinema, Rental Market and Price Trend,” the market scale of global LED display is expected to reach US$ 9.349 billion by 2022 with a CAGR of 12% during 2018 to 2022. Meanwhile, the market scale of indoor fine pitch display is forecasted to reach up to US$ 1.997 billion with a YoY growth of 39%. 

Osram Opto Semiconductors has provided its IR LED and LED components to Joyson Safety Systems, a U.S. based mobile safety system provider, on its steering wheel to develop a semi-autonomous system to the new Cadillac CT6. The steering wheel equipped with the IR LED can monitor driver’s behaviors to ensure safety. 

LiteOn Technology announced that its revenue of August came to NT$18.59 billion (US$ 603.73 million), up by 20% MoM and down by 0.15% YoY. 

Taiwanese LED manufacturers announced that the shipment of LED backlight products has contributed to their revenue in 3Q18. LED chip maker Epsitar said the orders for blue LED backlight and four elements LED have grown. Meanwhile, LED vertical integration manufacturer Lextar revealed its escalating revenue for August. 

Japan-based DOWA Electronics Materials reported its achievement of IR LED by developing short-wavelength-infrared LED chips with a high output power at 6.8 mW with a peak wavelength of 1,300 nm, which is 3.5 times higher when compared to the existing products. 

  The latest research report of LEDinside “2019 Global LED Video Wall Market Outlook - Cinema, Rental Market and Price Trend,” indicated that the market scale of global LED display is expected to reach US$ 9.349 billion by 2022 with a CAGR of 12% during 2018 to 2022. Meanwhile, the market scale of indoor fine pitch display is forecasted to reach up to US$ 1.997 billion with a YoY growth of 39%. 

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Nubia has unveiled a wearable smartphone at IFA 2018. The wearable smartphone, named Nubia Alpha, has adopted a flexible display so the screen can wrap around the wrist. 

Chinese LED packaging company Nationstar has demonstrated its Mini LED applications at Display International, Touch Taiwan and announced its plan to sell its subsidiary at the latest conference call on September 5th.

An old tunnel in South Korea has been transformed into a vertical farm lit with LED growing lights to grow vegetables and fruits as an approach to solve issues caused by the extreme weather and shortages of agriculture land and labor, reported Associated Press. 

Kulicke & Soffa, a Singapore based semiconductor equipment provider and Micro LED startup Rohinni have announced the launch of an advanced placement solution for Micro and Mini LED, PIXALUX™. 

MOCVD equipment provider Veeco has announced that the company will make a change in its executive leadership team. The current Chairman and CEO John Peeler will become Executive Chairman, and the current President, William J. Miller, will take the role of CEO and join the company’s board of directors. Moreover, Shubham (Sam) Maheshwari will be named COO while continuing his current role as CEO. 

Mini LED has entered the market with manufacturers continuously reporting the launch of new products with Mini LED applications in the past few months. Meanwhile, the industry does not intend to stop the progress of Micro LED development. Chinese LED chip maker Sanan Optoelectronics will build its Micro LED epi-wafer and chip production, according to industry sources. 

Seoul Semiconductor has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Texas, USA, against Fry’s Electronics, a U.S. based retail company of consumer electronics. Seoul Semiconductor has accused Fry’s Electronics of selling LED TV products which infringed Seoul Semiconductor’s LED patents.

The Taiwanese research institution, ITRI, has participated in IFA, the tradeshow for consumer electronics and home applications held in Berlin, Germany, to demonstrate its innovative technology applications. ITRI has introduced several intelligent living products including Companion Robots, Pesticide Residue Detection Technology and an Intelligent UV Direct Drinking Water Sterilizer.

Signify has transformed from a luminaires supplier into an intelligent lighting system provider, offering solutions for lighting systems and services. Its “Friends of Hue” program has demonstrated an ecosystem to intensify the connections of the company and other international and interdisciplinary partners for expanding smart lighting network. 

HLJ Technology Co, a Taiwanese VCSEL epitaxy and chip producer has ordered AIXTRON’s MOCVD sets to increase its wafer capacity and its epitaxial wafer size production line for VCSEL. 

At Display International, Touch Taiwan 2018, numerous display technologies and innovations have been introduced to give visitors a peek of their potential applications in the near future. Taiwan-based technology R&D institution ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute) has exhibited its most updated transparent displays embedded with interactive functions.

Canadian automotive components supplier Magna and Micro LED startup Rohinni have announced to form a joint venture for producing thin and flexible Micro LED lighting solutions for vehicles. 

With the market of Mini LED display thriving in the second half of 2018, LED driver IC company Macroblock has been preparing its technologies and capacities for Mini LED displays.

To increase the viewing quality of displays, optical films and polarizers were added onto displays and many companies have demonstrated their advanced optical films and polarizers at Touch Taiwan 2018. 

The application of smart displays in retail stores is one of the most discussed topics at Touch Taiwan 2018. With the integration of camera sensors, displays and IoT, smart display technologies can enable retailers to collect data of consumers and to market their products more efficiently. Consumers, on the other hand, will be able to gain more comprehensive details when selecting products and receive updated discount information while shopping. Many exhibitors have presented their state-of-the-art technologies and integrated retail solutions including Innolux, Champ Vision Display and E ink.

According to the latest research report of LEDinside 「2019 Global LED Video Wall Market Outlook - Cinema, Rental Market and Price Trend」, as the demand for LED display in markets including rental market, HDR market application, retail and meeting room boosts, global LED display market scale in 2022 is expected to stand at USD 9.349 billion with a CAGR of 12% during 2018 to 2022. Thereinto, that of indoor fine pitch display in 2018 is expected to be up to USD 1.997 billion with a y-o-y growth of 39% and its CAGR during 2018 o 2022 will reach 28%, which is driven by the continuous development of ultra-fine pitch display in the future.

Last week a Korean Media, The Investors, reported that LG would release its first Micro LED TV at the IFA electronics trade show in Germany. The news has been confirmed real as LG unveiled its 173-inch Micro LED display module at the show. 

The development of the LED display industry has been blooming in 2018 with the progresses of Mini LED, Micro LED, Fine pitch LED and OLED showing up one after another. According to the latest report from LEDinside, it is estimated that the market value of Micro LED and Mini LED will reach US$ 1.38 billion by 2022.

Micro LED has been considered as the next generation display technology and many leading brands have continued to report their progress of Micro LED development. Taiwanese LED makers and panel producers have also introduced their latest development of Micro LED display technologies at Touch Taiwan 2018. According to sources from the supply chain, Apple has visited AUO and Epistar to learn their progress of Micro LED technology and discuss the possible cooperation regarding Micro LED display development. 

The 2018 Internationl Micro LED Display Conference has gathered AUO, eLux, Nationstar, Lextar, X-Celeprint, Veeco, Lumiode, San’an, TOPCON, Chipone, PlayNitride, Orbotech, Sony and ITRI to share Micro LED related technologies and future prospect. The conference has mainly focused on Micro LED epitaxy, transfer, color conversion, detection, drive and equipment.

The “2018 International Micro LED Display Conference” was held by Taiwan Display Union Association (TDUA), at Touch Taiwan 2018 where a special booth for Micro LED/ Mini LED products solutions was set up.