As the largest panel manufacturing base and research and development application area, China has become an important engine for the development of the global display industry. Relevant data show that over the past decade, the scale of China's new display industry has continued to expand. Between 2017 and 2021, the scale of China's new display industry increased from 275.8 billion yuan to 586.8 billion yuan, and in 2023, the scale of the industry will reach 855.9 billion yuan. Among them, the development and industrialization of Micro LED technology has been promoted rapidly, and market opportunities have been increasing, attracting many enterprises to enter and speeding up the reconstruction of the industrial pattern. However, since March this year, the news of Apple's cancellation of the Micro LED screen can be said to be flying, and Apple, which has been in a key role in the development of display technology, has affected the industry's attention. If Apple really canceled the Micro LED screen, will it have an impact on the LED display industry?
Giant to give up Micro LED, pull the whole body
After Apple announced the cancellation of the car plan, the news that Apple terminated the development of the Micro LED on the Apple Watch has also caused a shock in the industry. From the time line, at the end of February, Apple supplier Osram announced that due to the unexpected cancellation of an important project, Osram said that after a preliminary assessment, the company expects to carry out an asset impairment of 600-900 million euros on Micro LED related assets in the first quarter of 2024, and to re-evaluate the Micro LED strategy. At the same time, Apple not only abandoned the cooperation with Osram, but also abandoned the strategic cooperation of another supplier, Curisofa, according to Curisofa's documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: the company had worked with a strategic customer on the W project to support the customer's development and future mass production of certain technologies related to advanced display. Due to the client's strategic review of its business, the client has informed the company to cancel the project.
In addition, according to the latest media confirmed that LG Display, which has been jointly developing technology with Apple and forming a Micro LED working group (TF) for the Apple Watch, has also begun to reassign relevant personnel. Potential innovation in wearable devices will be delayed with the end of Apple's smartwatch, and Samsung's Micro LED's large display is also facing high costs. This project shelved by Apple may delay the time for the large-scale application of Micro LED technology, and will also weaken the possibility of promoting the rapid maturation process of the industrial chain, and will have a considerable impact on the overall industrial investment, technology development, and even the willingness of manufacturers to introduce the technology.
After all, most people believe that after the adoption of OLED panels, Apple's Apple Watch screen will be converted to Micro LED in the next step to improve screen brightness, make colors more accurate, and improve battery life. Most importantly, Micro LED does not have problems like OLED screen branding. The reason why Apple wants to cut into the Micro LED from the Apple Watch first is that it will be easier and more affordable to start with the smallest screen products. Now, with the partial announcement of the cancellation of cooperation with Apple, coupled with the layoffs of the Micro LED working group, perhaps Apple has no plans for mass production of Micro LED devices in the future.
Why is Micro LED difficult to enter mass production?
Micro LED has high definition, low power consumption, long life and other short-board performance, is the next generation of mainstream technology that the display industry has high hopes for. However, the extremely high technical threshold, including advanced technology and a complex process called LED transfer, makes Micro LED difficult to mass production, greatly limiting the commercialization process of Micro LED. Although Apple owns the design and manufacturing process for the Micro LED screen, it relies on other partners for mass production and LED transfer operations.
But in the end, the biggest obstacle limiting the development of the Micro LED market is the high cost. Last year, omdia, a market research agency, published a cost report on Micro LED display panels, and the cost of a 10-14-inch Micro LED panel reached $6000-10,000, equivalent to a maximum of more than 70,000 yuan. At the same time, the report pointed out that this data is only a cost projection based on the price of 10.1 inch Micro LED panels, rather than the manufacturer's quotation. In practice, manufacturers generally add a 10-20% premium to the quotation to ensure profit.
So, why is the cost of Micro LED so high? Mainly because at present, Micro LED has not really formed a mature technical route, in addition, there is the supply of upstream materials, and the construction of the industrial chain is not mature. Large transfer is a major difficulty in the process of industrialization, it is understood that most of the large transfer technology used in the industry is divided into four categories: accurate grasp, self-assembly, selective release, roller transfer. These large transfer technologies in general still belong to the "quantity of pre-production" technology, the bottleneck he is currently facing is the same, and this is also the bottleneck faced by the entire Micro LED production. In addition, full-color technology, joint technology, and drive technology are not yet mature.
All in all, even if by 2024, Micro LED technology has advanced too much, only by solving the bottleneck of Micro LED technology and commercial costs can we truly realize the large-scale application of Micro LED.
The layout of domestic screen companies Micro LED is the right time
Some industry analysts, Micro LED indoor display is easy to do big is difficult to do small, there are already some mature large screen products landing, but the production of micro-pitch products within P0.6 still exists mass production bottleneck. But in essence, whether it is a micro screen or a commercial large screen, with the continuous improvement of the process route to materials to equipment, there is still a chance to break through in the future, and the industry is full of confidence.
In fact, the application of Micro LED is very broad, from Micro display to commercial display large screen, Micro LED products have different forms and diversified application scenarios, although Apple and its supply chain have a bad start on Micro LED, it does not mean that non-Apple camp enterprises can also be affected. On the contrary, some domestic manufacturers see opportunities rather than losses in this incident. The pace of investment in the domestic industrial chain has not changed, the research and development of technology is still continuing, and the Micro LED display circuit continues to invest resources to develop products.
In general, a difficult and correct product layout requires the joint efforts of the upstream and downstream industry chains. In order to fully unlock the potential of Micro LED technology, the industry must face up to and overcome many challenges such as packaging technology, cost, and continued investment and development of equipment and standards. In terms of market share, Micro LED has been in the rising stage in the past few years, and its proportion in the overall LED display market has increased. It is believed that with the shift of domestic manufacturers, the future will be expected to fully release the technical advantages and market demand, and inject new impetus into the development of the industry.
The Micro LED industry has not stalled, and the end of Apple's efforts may open the door for players, especially in the high-end display and automotive fields, where the application value of Micro LED has always been there. Before the fruits are formed, continuous cultivation and a new path will be an important driving force to promote the steady progress of Micro LED. There may be a lot of bumps along the way, but unlike Apple's road, the Micro LED race has turned from a sprint to a marathon for the LED display industry.
