Chinese LED behemoth San’an Optoelectronics today issued a document announcing that it will team up with Samsung to Co-develop Micro LED displays.

A series of acts of Samsung developing Micro LED has been gradually unveiled. From the rumor about its investment in Taiwan-based Micro LED startup PlayNitride to the recent demonstration of its gigantic Micro LED modular TV The Wall at CES 2018, they more or less suggest Samsung’s attempt to rival other display makers with the Micro LED technology.

Sumitomo Chemical has reportedly phased out its LED sapphire substrate business. SSLM, a South Korean sapphire wafer joint venture funded by Sumitomo Chemical and Samsung, stopped manufacturing sapphire substrates and Samsung also claimed to have halted investments in the company, reported The Nihon Keizai Shinbun.

Perhaps one of the most attention-garnering products unveiled by Samsung Electronics at CES 2018 is its 146-inch The Wall, the world’s first modular Micro LED TV. Featuring a number of display technology advancements, The Wall is set to usher in the future of displays by providing an unsurpassed viewing experience while seamlessly integrating into consumers’ lives – and living rooms.

Major smartphone vendors like Samsung and Apple have been making improvements regarding unlocking devices beyond password-based methods, resulting in the rapid development of biometrics recognition in smartphones. In addition to smartphones, biometrics authentication methods will also be used in tablets and wearable devices.

In retrospect, companies had already realized the only way to earn themselves new opportunities in such a mature market is to redevelop their technologies and gear up for niche markets with higher margins. LEDinside picks five trends that drove the LED industry this year and gives a quick analysis on what they will lead the industry to in 2018.

Samsung (SDC) currently dominates the small-sized OLED panel supply globally. As for the large-sized TV panel segment, SDC decides to focus on QLED, a quantum dot display technology. SDC used to promote curved TVs, but now it decides to change its course.

WitsView, a division of TrendForce, reports that the global shipments of branded LCD TV sets for 2017 will total 210 million units, a decrease of 4.1% compared with prior year. For 2018, the shipments decline will reverse, and grow by 3.9% to 218 million.

Samsung’s CHG90 recently received further validation from the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA), who, following a rigorous testing procedure, confirmed that the CHG90 (along with the CHG70) exemplifies its DisplayHDR™ 600 performance standards and is the industry’s first display to be certified as DisplayHDR™ compliant.

Successfully obtaining technologies able to mass produce Micro LED products, Korean mid-sized LED maker Lumens begins to produce both small- and large-sized Micro LED display prototypes planned to be showcased at CES 2018.

A new war is looming in the display market. The rumor that Samsung may team up with the Micro LED supply chain in Taiwan has caught the attention of Foxconn CEO Terry Gou.

Rumors have been spreading like crazy since May that Samsung would acquire Taiwanese Micro LED startup PlayNitride. Sources from the industry recently leaked that the two companies are at the final stage of their talk.

Samsung officially released 34-foot Cinema Screen in 2017, and the screen has been installed at Lotte Cinema World Tower in Korea. This is the first product that brings LED digital display into the movie theater application around the world. Samsung’s goal is to take up 10% movie theater market in 2020.

Much hope has been put in Micro LED to drive the next generation display technology, but there isn’t a concrete date to see it commercialized yet. The production cost is still high, and development of mass transfer technologies gets stuck. Even Apple is rumoured to have downsized its secret team that develops Micro LED in Taiwan.

At 2:29 p.m. on November 15 of South Korea's local time (1:29 p.m. of Taiwan's local time), a 5.5-magnitude shock struck Korea's east coast. The epic center is located at 9 kilometers north to Pohang City, North Gyeongsang Province. Its depth was about 9 kilometers deep. About this surprising incident in Korea, WitsView, a division of TrendForce, analyzed that it influenced very little to the entire panel industry.

Samsung Electronics today announced financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2017. In the fourth quarter, Samsung will focus on profitability, by increasing the dominance in the premium QLED and ultra-large TV lineups, as well as reinforcing B2B growth including digital signage and Cinema LED businesses.

Industrial gases supplier Praxair announced it has signed a long-term agreement to build, own and operate an air separation plant that will supply 700 tons per day of nitrogen to Samsung’s display manufacturing complex in Tangjeong, South Korea.

CYNORA, a Germany-based provider of highly efficient organic emitter materials for OLEDs, announced that the two Korean tech giants have decided to support CYNORA on its way to becoming a major player for OLED emitting materials.

Major technology companies have been developing solutions and platforms for 3D sensing, which is expected to be featured on the upcoming iPhone devices. Market intelligence TrendForce anticipates that from 2017 onward, the market for 3D sensing solutions used in mobile devices will witness leaping growth. The total value of the global market for 3D sensing modules used in mobile devices is estimated to reach US$1.5 billion in 2017 and is forecast to grow at a massive CAGR of 209% to around US$14 billion in 2020. Note that the 3D sensing module that is being discussed includes IR transmitter and receiver components.

The LED industry had quite a peaceful time in 1H17. Apart from a few M&As, the most-discussed technology would be Micro LED. Lots of high-tech giants worldwide have already started a series of R&D and the number of participants is getting bigger. The supply chain of Micro LED, although of limited mature technologies, is slowly shaping up. Here, LEDinside lists out major events and milestones made on the path of developing Micro LED in the first half of 2017.

Samsung Electronics announced it has installed its first ever commercial Cinema LED Screen at Lotte Cinema World Tower in Korea. Designed as a High Dynamic Range (HDR) LED theater display, the Cinema LED Screen creates a more captivating and vibrant viewing experience through next-generation picture quality and true-to-life audio thanks to collaboration with HARMAN Professional Solutions.

It has been spreading like crazy that in 2H17 three iPhone models- the high-end iPhone 8 featuring an OLED display, iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus that continue to use LCD displays- will hit the shelves. Latest sources leaked Apple might increase OLED display use in its products and all the three new iPhones to roll out in 2018 are likely to sport OLED displays. That possibly implies orders Apple places with LCD display providers Sharp and Japan Display Inc. (JDI) would plummet. It will be much of a shock to JDI which earns over 50% of its revenue from Apple’s phone screen demand.

Could the fire of war in the OLED display market be as heavy as that in the memory industry? Samsung Display is reported to construct the world’s largest OLED display factory. Such a massive production ramp-up is believed to be the Korean display maker’s move to make competitive prices of its OLED products to confront the growing threats from Chinese contenders.

It seems Apple is planning on finding one more source of OLED displays for its iPhone. The Korea Herald reported that last month Apple talked with LG Display to invest around USD 1.75-2.62 billion into its new OLED plant, called E6.

Samsung Electronics America, a global leader in hospitality solutions, is showcasing its latest innovations at HITEC 2017 simulating a hotel experience to showcase how Samsung display technology and innovations elevate engagement for a hotel hosting an event. The broad range of hospitality offerings featured at the booth include the latest in indoor and outdoor digital displays, LYNK™ REACH 4.0 with HMS 2.0, and mobile products built for the enterprise. The SMART Signage displays will also be powered by the Tizen 3.0 operating system, the latest version of Samsung’s cross-architecture open source software platform. The Samsung HITEC Booth will be open for visitors at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre Convention Center, Booth #701, from June 27-29, 2017.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a world leader in advanced component solutions, today announced that it has begun mass producing a new mid-power LED package, the LM301B, which features the industry’s highest luminous efficacy of 220 lumens per watt. The package is well suited for a range of LED lighting applications including ambient lighting, downlights and most retrofit lamps.

WitsView, a division of TrendForce, reports shipments of LCD TV sets for the first quarter of 2017 came to 44.05 million units, a decrease of 31% from the prior quarter and a year-on-year decline of 8.4%. Poor sales results in China during the Chinese New Year holiday period was a major factor behind the year-on-year shipment drop.

At this year’s LIGHTFAIR International (LFI), the world's largest annual architectural and commercial lighting trade show and conference, Samsung Electronics has underlined its dedication to bringing innovative LED lighting solutions to the market. In particular, Jacob Tarn’s (Executive Vice President, LED Lighting Business, Samsung Electronics) presentation in front of 15 media people showed how Samsung's LED business has evolved from mere LED component business to full-blown end-to-end solutions ranging from LED packages to LED engine & Smart Lighting platform.  

Micro LED has become an obvious technology trend that even Samsung has started to eagerly tap into. According to international OLED publication OLED-info, Samsung is rumored to acquire Taiwan-based Micro LED manufacturer PlayNitride for up to US$150 million. Samsung would use the next generation display technology for VR applications and TVs in the future, the report said.

Finally, the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are here. After countless rumors and speculations, Samsung on Wednesday officially unveiled its next-generation Galaxy S flagship models. Although most of the specs have been leaked, the launch of the S8 series was still highly anticipated as it is Samsung’s first major event since the withdrawal of Note 7s.