Consumer electronics vertical is anticipated to capture largest share in micro-LED market

The consumer electronics vertical is expected to hold the largest share of the micro-LED display market by 2026. The micro-LED display market for this vertical is also expected to grow at the highest CAGR between 2020 and 2026. The large market share and high growth rate are attributed to the anticipated adoption of micro-LED display panels in various consumer electronic devices, such as smartphones, televisions, smartwatches, TVs, laptops, and NTE devices. APAC is expected to dominate the global micro-LED market. The market in this region is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to the presence of leading LED foundries, display panel manufacturers, and customers in the region. Recent technological advancements in micro-LED have led to an increased interest of leading APAC-based display panel manufacturers, such as Samsung, LG Display, AU Optronics, and BOE Technology. They are also focusing on R&D activities pertaining to micro-LED technology.

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Driver: Increase in demand for microdisplays for NTE devices

Increasing demand for brighter and more power-efficient display panels for smartwatches, smartphones, televisions, and AR/VR devices is expected to significantly drive the development and subsequent commercialization of micro-LED display technology. The keen interest of technology heavyweights such as Apple, Samsung, and Sony is expected to result in the faster commercialization of micro-LED display technology. Samsung and Sony are focused on the large panel segment for signage and television applications, while Apple is likely to commercialize the technology for the smartwatch application by 2021. Significant ongoing research by input suppliers for the establishment of a strong supply chain will also drive the growth of the micro-LED display market.

Restraint: Lack of supply chain and patents

 At present, the lack of an established supply chain and distributed patent portfolio are the major restraints for the growth of the market. The fast adoption of OLED technology in display devices may further hinder the commercialization and growth of micro-LED technology.

Opportunity: Manufacturing of micro-LEDs on large silicon wafers

Manufacturing micro-LEDs on wafers has been a major challenge in terms of yield and cost. Most of the LED manufacturers today use sapphire wafers for manufacturing LEDs. These wafers are small in diameter and costly, which restrains the cost reduction of LED devices. ALLOS Semiconductors, Plessey Semiconductors, Aledia, and a few other players have developed GaN-on-silicon technology for manufacturing LEDs using conventional process. These companies are collaborating with the world’s leading LED foundries to increase the manufacturing capacity on a large scale.

This development is expected to increase the use of large-sized wafers (more than 4 inches) for manufacturing LED products. The technology is used for making high-quality GaN-on-Si epitaxial wafers by means of MOCVD/MOVPE. However, the technology is yet to be optimized for micro-LEDs. GaN-on-Si is a promising technology for the LED market, and once developed, it can significantly impact micro-LED technology in terms of manufacturing cost.

Challenge: Huge investment requirement in infrastructure, equipment, and process development; and need for different manufacturing processes as well as equipment compatibility

Manufacturers will have to adopt different manufacturing process and equipment or upgrade their existing systems to mass-produce micro-LED chips for different applications. Industry-leading LED manufacturers, such as Epistar (Taiwan) and Cree (US), are focusing on finding micro-LED development solutions that are compatible with the existing manufacturing processes. GLO AB (Sweden) demonstrated nanowires that can be grown on various substrates, such as sapphire and silicon, utilizing standard industry process equipment. Making the micro-LED fabrication process compatible with the existing fabrication plants is the major focus of industry-leading players.

Micro-LED technology-based displays are self-emitting, with no need for filters and liquid crystals, and industry-leading companies are finding ways to mass-produce RGB-based micro-LEDs. Down-converting micro-LEDs for display applications involves the manufacturing of very small pixel. To get down to very small pixel sizes, nanophosphors would probably not work, and even quantum dots will create some challenges due to some thermo-constraints, which make them impractical for very small pixels. Manufacturing small pixels based on micro-LED technology is comparatively easier than quantum dot or any other display technology.

Micro-LED display for smartphone application is expected to commercialize by 2021

The smartphone and tablet application are expected to account for the largest share of the micro-LED display market by 2026. The market for this application is expected to commercialize in 2021. Smartphones and tablets are high-volume applications, and once micro-LED display technology is commercialized, the corresponding market share will rise to dominate the overall micro-LED display market.