The Next Generation of Emerging Display Technologies is Rising Rapidly, and China's Industry Chain Accelerates Its Breakthrough and Evolution

"Through more than 20 years of effort, China has secured over 70% of the global market share for LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) has also reached the top share in the global market. I believe with continuous efforts, in the field of Micro-LED (Micro Light-Emitting Diode) in the future, we can also quickly occupy the global market." Qin Feng, General Manager of the Research and Development Center and Non-Display Business Department, and President of the Micro-LED Research Institute of Tianma Microelectronics, said at the recently held 2024 Tianma Microelectronics Global Innovation Conference.

Securities Times reporters noted that the lack of chips and screens has been a problem plaguing China's industries for many years, but in recent years, China has emerged as a prominent force in the "screen" segment, especially occupying the majority share in the global LCD market. Against this background, the global industry chain is continuously advancing towards the next generation of emerging display technologies, with Micro-LED being regarded as the "ultimate display technology." China's industry chain, represented by Tianma Microelectronics and BOE, is accelerating its breakthrough and evolution.

Dubbed the "Hexagonal Warrior"

It is understood that Micro-LED technology refers to the miniaturization and matrixing of LEDs, representing an innovation in integrating high-density, micro-sized LED arrays on a single chip. This technology allows each pixel of the LED display to be addressed and driven individually, which can be seen as a miniaturized version of outdoor LED displays. The pixel pitch has been reduced from millimeters to micrometers, while the diameter of a human hair is about 50 micrometers.

"Beyond the current mainstream display products LCD and OLED, Micro-LED, as an important display technology, is attracting social attention. Micro-LED belongs to self-emissive display technology, so it has very unique advantages in brightness, resolution, lifespan, viewing angle, contrast, response time, power, and operating range. It can be described as a 'hexagonal warrior' (a metaphor for someone or something that is excellent and versatile in all aspects)," said Geng Yi, Executive Deputy Secretary-General of the China OLED Industry Alliance. As of 2023, the global patent reserve for Micro-LED has exceeded 40,000 cases. Especially since 2017, the activity of Micro-LED-related research and development has increased significantly, and it is currently in a new period of explosive growth.

Currently, the development of Micro-LED technology has entered a stage of rapid growth, and some new products applying Micro-LED technology are gradually being launched. For example, at the recently held 2024 Tianma Microelectronics Global Innovation Conference, Tianma and its partner Hisense jointly released a 60-inch glass-based AM-driven Micro-LED seamless splicing screen, adopting an ultra-small pitch design (Pitch=0.4mm), which can achieve free splicing in both horizontal and vertical directions. It is the company's first Micro-LED product for public display use (PID).

"The Micro-LED seamless splicing screen we released features zero-bezel display. On the one hand, we adopted Tianma's unique GOA (Gate on Active Area) backplane driving technology and designed the substrate with a negative bezel to reduce the bezel width and achieve seamless splicing between cabinets. On the other hand, compared to competitors' side wiring solutions, Tianma independently developed 3D coating side wiring technology, which can increase the efficiency of side wiring by three times while reducing costs by about three times," said Xi Kerui, Vice President of the Tianma Microelectronics Micro-LED Research Institute. Tianma will continue to iterate and improve the product, and is expected to release more stunning seamless splicing products with partners next year.

As Micro-LED products begin to show their prowess, investments in the industry chain are also surging. According to incomplete statistics from LEDinside, 15 Mini/Micro-LED projects have been signed nationwide this year, with a total investment of 68.895 billion yuan. The landing of these latest projects will provide more resource reserves for the future production and technological research and development of Mini/Micro-LED.

Chinese enterprises are fully committed to the research and development and project construction of Micro-LED, which is not surprising, as it is backed by a rapidly growing and promising market. According to Research and Markets data, the estimated global market value of Micro-LED will reach $25 billion in 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 74.5% from 2023 to 2028.