As time is moving forward to the second quarter of 2018, more and more rumblings and updates about Micro/Mini LED emerged and have been circulating in the industry. In February, LEDinside collected and revealed information of Micro LED development from nearly 50 companies around the globe. Here, we would like to share some progress updates released after that from 10 companies.

The head of Samsung Visual Display expressed that Samsung Electronics has been researching methods to apply quantum dot technologies to its Micro LED TV.

LG is reported to have filed applications to the EU for three trademarks related to Micro LED displays. The trademarks are XµLED, SµLED, and XLµLED, Gsmarena.com carried in a report.

Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 has concluded and major smartphone vendors at the event have unveiled their smartphone lineup for this year, revealing the development trends in smartphone technology and specifications. According to WitsView, a division of TrendForce, full-screen smartphones will become the trend in market this year. The pursuit of narrower bezels and notch designs has emerged, bringing about solutions of under-display fingerprint sensor and applications combining camera modules and facial recognition.

Samsung Electronics launched its flagship line of 2018 QLED TVs and AV products at the 2018 First Look New York event at the American Stock Exchange building in Manhattan.

Samsung Electronics’ newest QLED TVs will offer an unrivalled viewing experience when they are revealed in New York, USA.

TV makers, especially Samsung and LG Display, are scrambling for changes and quality upgrades for their products. In 2018, the focus of the competition between the two Korean display manufacturers will shift from QLED vs. OLED to Micro LED.

Here begins a debate: when Mini LED is ready to enter the smartphone display market, it have to face an oversupply of OLED screens. Does Mini LED still have chances to grow in this space? And for how long can it last?

LEDinside listed out companies worldwide that have tapped into the development of Micro LED and what they have achieved so far. This up-to-date table covers the majority of the activities happening within the global Micro LED developing force. 

Display makers have been scrambling for the production of smartphone OLED screens for the iPhone X; however, the phone faces a tepid sales and even a possibility to be discontinued in 2018.

Samsung Electronics literally will take LED engagement to new heights with the introduction of ‘The Wall Professional’ – a modular, large-format indoor Micro LED display that can extend to hundreds of inches in size while delivering outstanding brightness, contrast and viewing angles. The Wall Professional will serve as the centerpiece of the Samsung booth at ISE 2018.

The emergence of Micro LED does steal some of the limelight from OLED that has been dominating the television market for the past few years, but can Micro LED really challenge OLED?

Samsung will be hosting a product launch event in New York. The announcement draws the world’s attention for Samsung did not unveil all the new TVs at CES 2018 and it is considering some changes to its product strategies.

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.