The fourth quarter is usually the low season in the LED industry. As business growth slows down, LED producer Epistar has announced plans to restructure the company to efficiently manage resources for reducing operation cost. Meanwhile, Lextar has speeded up the process of product development for new applications. Epistar has announced the merger of four of its subsidiaries including Epistar JV Holding (BVI), UEC Investment, HUGA Holding (BVI) and Bee Rich Corporation. The goal of the merge is to productively distribute the resources of the company and r...

Many LED manufacturers have been pushing their development in Mini LED, hoping to target niche markets with high-margin products as the oversupply and price competition in the industry have continued. Taiwan-based LED chip producer Epistar is an active player in developing Mini LED technology and has restructured its organization to strengthen its Mini LED business.

According to the latest report - New Display Technology Cost Analysis - by WitsView, a division of TrendForce, Mini LED technology has made constant process over the past year, with a significant increase in production output (in unit per hour, UPH) and die bond accuracy. Looking ahead to 2019, WitsView expects a high possibility of the mass production of products with Mini LED backlighting. The processing costs of display units may increase by 20%~100% depending on the number of Mini LED used.

Chinese LED package company Kinglight has launched new facilities in Suzhou, China which will be producing Mini LED and fine-pitch LED products.

Taiwanese panel producer Innolux has announced the restructuring of the company’s organization. Robert Shiao, the prior president of the company, has become Vice Chairman. James Yang was promoted as President from Vice President and will oversee the business unit, operation unit and manufacturer unit of Innolux. According to Jim Hung, Chairman of Innolux, the new management team would strengthen the flexibility and competitiveness of the company.

LEDinside forecasts that the development of Mini LED will accelerate in 2019 and 2020 and its market value will reach US$ 1699 million by 2022. Several industry players including San’an, HC Semitek, Epistar, NationStar, Harvatek, and Macroblock have reported their progress of Mini LED development. Meanwhile, panel producers such as AUO, BOE, Innolux and JDI have also unveiled applications adopting Mini LED technology.

LED driver IC company Macroblock has registered the highest monthly revenue of 2018 for September, which came to NT$ 305 million with an increase of 14.22% MoM and 16.14 YoY.

Mini LED is one of the key technologies for 2019 and will be making its way into the displays of consumer electronics. On the other hand, Micro LED technology, which has been on the spotlight in the recent years, is expected to be applied on displays in the market by 2021, according to the forecast of LEDinside.

According to LEDinside, the global market size of micro LED is expected to grow to US $1.12 billion in 2020 and US $3.18 billion in 2025. In the end, a variety of products (BLU and RGB displays) with micro / mini LEDs as individual pixels are expected to be introduced to the market. However, technologies that can deliver large quantities of LED chips to the substrate at a time are still under development, and technologies for repairing defective mini LED chips are needed. 

With the orders of backlight products and fine pitch displays, Epistar has reached the highest monthly revenue of NT$ 1.93 billion (US$ 62.38 million) of the year in September with an increase of 1.36% MoM and a decrease of 22% YoY. 

Lextar has reported revenue drop in September due to its continuous product adjustments. The company registered a revenue of NT$ 98 million (US$ 3.17 million) for September with a decrease of 6.7% YoY. 

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.

Many panel producers have reported profit drop in the early 2018 due to oversupply. But in the third quarter of 2018, the enhanced stocking-up demand in the peak season has reversed the over-supply trend, analyzed WitsView, a division of TrendForce.

Taiwanese LED manufacturers have been affected by the tepid LED market resulting from LED price declines due to oversupply. The escalating trade war has also impacted the demand of the end market. 

Korea-based semiconductor designer and manufacturer MagnaChip has announced that the company is offering a multi-channel Mini LED Driver to meet the demands of the rapidly growing digital signage market. 

According to TrendForce (WitsView)’s latest report New Display Technology Cost Analysis, some manufacturers have focused on the development of Mini LED, expecting it to become a transitional product before Micro LED is ready for mass production. The architecture of Mini LED is similar to that of current LED backlight in LCD displays, so no major change in the design is needed. However, Mini LED is bound to face the direct competition from OLED in the sector of consumer electronics such as smartphones and TV. For the short term, large-size TV a...

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. 

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.

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™. 

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.

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.

Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) has reported its progress of Mini LED and its achievement of cadmium-free quantum dots LED (QLED) material development. The company has targeted the automobile market with related applications adopting these technologies. 

Taiwanese LED packaging company Everlight has addressed its continuous portfolio amendment and its further operation direction in response to the company’s share price slide.

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. 

Lextar has released a series of Mini LED products including Mini LED RGB display modules and Mini LED backlight for notebooks and monitors. The products will be demonstrated at Touch Taiwan 2018 by the end of August in Taipei, Taiwan. 

Taiwan-based flexible printed circuit board producer Uniflex announced its development of Mini LED substrates which has entered the supply chain of LED chips, LED backlight modules and panels. The company expects mass production and shipment of the products in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Lextar reported its financial report for the second quarter of 2018 with a consolidated revenue of NT$ 2.98 billion (US$ 97.24 million), up by 12.6% QoQ. The net profit came to NT$ 50 million (US$ 1.63 million). For the first half of the year, the revenue was NT$ 5.63 billion (US$ 183.71 million) with a decrease of 8.8 YoY, while the net profit dropped by 75.5% to NT$ 12 million (US$ 391,572). 

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.