Micro LED displays and devices developer VueReal has announced $8.5 million in funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to support its project whose total investment is over $26 million. The funding will be used to further develop innovative Micro LED technologies by expanding its original research team and launching a new center with fabrication facility. 

Taiwanese LED wafer and chip maker Epileds has reportedly continued its progress in developing Micro LED/Mini LED products. However, impacted by the price pressure and severe competition, the company’s performance for 3Q18 turned out flat.

Plessey has been speeding up its progress of Micro LED technology development. After announcing the partnership with Jasper Display Corp (JDC) for the backplanes, Plessey has ordered MOCVD equipment from AIXTRON SE to boost its manufacturing capability of GaN-on-Si wafers targeting Micro LED applications.

Imec Taiwan, a subsidiary of the Belgium-based R&D institute Imec, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Taiwan’s Instrument Technology Research Center of National Applied Research Laboratories (ITRC-NARLabs) for future collaboration in developing advanced imaging and optics applications. One of the focal points of the cooperation is to enhance the development of Micro LED and to explore further applications of the technology. 

Taiwan-based semiconductor equipment supplier Gallant Precision Machining (GPM) announced in July that the company has been developing equipment for Micro LED production. Its subsidiary, GMM, which focuses on the field, will complete the equipment for mass transferring Micro LED chips by the first quarter of 2019.

Regrowing hair for mice is the new application unveiled by researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) with their red flexible vertical Micro LED technology. They published their result in ACS Nano in August.

Plessey Semiconductors has reported its partnership with Jasper Display Corp (JDC) for using JDC’s silicon backplane to drive the monolithic Micro LED displays produced by Plessey’s proprietary GaN-on-Si wafers. 

SEMICON Taiwan 2018 was held at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center on September 5 -7. Many leading equipment manufacturers have joined the event including Aixtron, Veeco, Kulicke & Soffa, MPI Corporation and Toray. These equipment makers have introduced the latest trends of power components and optoelectronic. 

SEMICON Taiwan 2018 International Semiconductor Exhibition was held during September 5 to 7 at TWTC Nankang Exhibition Hall. As the second largest SEMICON exhibition worldwide, it gathered 680 manufacturers with more than 2000 booths, reaching a new record high. Major equipment manufacturers were present, including Aixtron, VEECO, Kulicke & Soffa and MPI Corporation. 

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. 

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™. 

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. 

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.

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 display show, Touch Taiwan, has kicked off in Taipei, Taiwan. The next generation display technology, Mini and Micro LED, has been the spotlight of the event with several companies showcasing their latest display products adopting the technologies. According to the latest report of LEDinside, the market value of Micro LED and Mini LED products is estimated at US$1.38 billion by 2022.

Lextar has announced that the company will launch the latest Micro LED chips with the size smaller than 20 µm and two different Micro LED chip solutions for display applications at Touch Taiwan 2018.

Taiwanese semiconductor component provider TOPCO has announced that it will join the Touch Taiwan display show to introduce materials and components that are crucial for Micro LED/Mini LED technology development. 

Lextar has been reorganizing its production capacities and adjusting its products portfolio, aiming to efficiently integrate its resources and to boost profit margin for the future. 

LED IC driver manufacturer Macroblock registered a revenue of NT$ 245 million (US$ 7.99 million) for July, down by 9.97% MoM, which was not in line with the expectation of the peak quarter. Macroblock indicated that the trade war between the U.S. and China has impacts on the company’s orders.

As one of the most important display shows of the industry, Touch Taiwan will take place during August 29 – 31 in Taipei, Taiwan. Manufacturers of the supply chain including LED chip, panel, driver IC and end-product applications will gather at the event to demonstrate their innovative technologies as well as to discuss the development trend of the industry. Micro LED, considered to be the next generation display technology, will be a spotlight of the event.

Under the pressure of price competition and oversupply in the LED industry, LED producers worldwide have been devoting their efforts in organization transformation and reconstruction as well as focusing on innovative technologies. The development of Mini LED and Micro LED has been viewed as the new opportunity for LED firms. LEDinside has estimated that the revenue of Micro LED and Mini LED will reach US$1.38 billion by 2022.

Macroblock has showcased several displays adopting its new ICs at 2018 Macroblock LED Display Conference. The company is also ready to welcome the peak quarter of the year with its shipments of various products.

Taiwanese semiconductor equipment supplier Gallant Precision Machining (GPM) reported that the company has prepared for equipment to produce Micro LED, including facilities of LED picking, washing, mass transferring and testing. The facilities are now at the experimental phase.

Taiwanese panel producer AUO has reported its revenue for the second season of 2018 and revealed that the company expects to release Mini LED displays for gaming monitors or gaming notebooks in the second half of 2018.

Taiwanese LED driver IC provider Macroblock has become a supplier of Samsung’s display products and might benefit from Samsung’s mass production of Micro LED displays.

Cochlear implant is a device using electrodes to stimulate the auditory nerve to help hearing-impaired people to “hear.” But it cannot deliver complex sound as the electrode current does not move from the electrode to an auditory neuron directly. Researchers have been exploring the possibilities to replace electricity with light in cochlear implants via optogenetics technology.

LEDinside hosted Micro LEDforum 2018 last week in Taipei, Taiwan and welcomed international speakers and attendees to join the pioneer event of the industry. Several leading institutes shared their innovative approaches of Micro LED and the technology of mass transfer is definitely the biggest focus. QMAT and Tesoro Scientific, two U.S. based start-up companies, introduced innovative materials and equipment concepts to enable ultra-fast mass transfer methods.

The 2018 Micro LEDforum, hosted by LEDinside, ended on 12 July. This time, experts from various fields were invited to share the six bottlenecks in the Micro LED manufacturing process. In the mass transfer section, this time we invited Uniqarta, SelfArray, eLux, QMAT and KIMM to talk about the features of various transfer technologies and future potential.

Micro LED display has been considered as the next-generation display technology with its features of high resolution, high contrast, high brightness and wide viewing angles. To achieve these characteristics, driver IC is a key component during the manufacturing process. At Micro LEDforum 2018, LEDinside invited Macroblock, the LED driver IC specialist, to talk about how to fully realize the advantages of Mini and Micro LED display from the viewpoint of a driver IC maker.