Product
The production capacity of Mini LED COB direct display equipment is expected to reach about 70,000 square meters/month in October 2024, and the actual shipment volume is 40,000 square meters/month, which is a significant increase compared to 2023. It is expected that by 2028, the annual production capacity area is expected to grow to 500,000 square meters.
It is expected that in the next five years, the scale of the global Mini/Micro LED market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of more than 50%, and by 2028, the market size is expected to reach US$36 billion.
The share of COB packaging technology in the LED display market continues to expand. According to the data released by DISCIEN in the first quarter of 2024, the sales of small-pitch and micro-pitch LED displays in mainland China reached 4.22 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.8%, and the shipment area was nearly 280,000 square meters, a year-on-year increase of 13.4%. Among them, the sales of COB packaging technology accounted for 23.4%, and the sales volume accounted for more than 10%, an increase of nearly 200% year-on-year, which is much higher than the average growth level of the overall small-pitch LED market.
Mini LED COB packaging technology has demonstrated its unique advantages in the display field. However, the road to large-scale production is not smooth. As an emerging technology, it has encountered many challenges in terms of production line construction costs and testing time. These obstacles have become problems that must be overcome for its large-scale application.
In recent years, the development momentum of Mini LED direct display products has been rapid, and the technical route has gradually matured. It is moving towards large-size substrates, small pixel pitches, and prices continue to fall. Industry competition is also becoming increasingly fierce.
In terms of production capacity, as of October 2024, the production capacity of Mini LED COB direct display equipment is about 70,000 square meters/month (calculated at P1.25), and the actual shipment volume is about 40,000 square meters/month, a significant increase from 2023. It is expected that by 2028, the annual production capacity area is expected to reach 500,000 square meters.
In terms of products, there are currently three mainstream cabinet series on the market. Among them, the splicing method of 600×337.5mm cabinets is expected to shift to 4-piece splicing across the industry next year, and may develop into a vertical screen with 3 panels in the future.
In terms of spacing, the spacing of Mini LED COB products continues to shrink, and may focus on P1.5 and P0.7 in the future. With the advancement of technology and the maturity of processes, manufacturing costs have decreased, and prices have fallen year by year, from 48,000 yuan/㎡ in 2018 (calculated at P1.25) to 9,000 yuan/㎡ in 2024, and are expected to fall further next year.
In the face of fierce industry competition, the standardization and scale of Mini LED packaging production lines have become a trend, which requires the integration of the industrial chain and reasonable solutions. Some companies have changed from purchasing single equipment to piece together production lines to seeking turnkey projects provided by equipment manufacturers, covering aspects such as plant planning, equipment planning and process design to enhance the competitiveness of their products.
Many companies have launched corresponding solutions to the problems of Mini LED standardization and large-scale application. For example, a certain enterprise has launched a pixel bonding machine that can bond 3 colors at a time, with a UPH of 75K, which is the highest level in the industry. It can achieve mixed bonding without speed reduction, can meet the needs of large substrate sizes, and takes into account the development trend of future product sizes in the definition of the machine. In contrast, the traditional bonding method is less efficient. If the bonding efficiency is not high, it will affect the process efficiency, so it is crucial to improve the bonding efficiency.
In addition, the enterprise has also designed a super-intensive parallel line body that can connect multiple bonding machines. The line body is narrow, the layout is flexible, and the equipment runs in parallel, which ensures the utilization rate and realizes the parallel production of multiple machines and multiple products.
In terms of intelligent systems, the enterprise has created a professional production board management system and remote monitoring system, covering multiple data, to help customers simplify processes and reduce costs.
From the perspective of standardized intelligent production lines, a certain enterprise's Mini LED direct display packaging standard production line has many advantages, which will promote the large-scale production and application of Mini LED COB direct display.
With the continuous advancement of Mini LED technology, its application prospects in the display field are becoming more and more broad. In order to further enhance the market competitiveness of Mini LED COB packaging technology, the R&D team is working to solve key problems in the production process. For example, by improving materials and processes, the defective rate in the production process can be reduced, thereby reducing the scrap rate and production costs.
In addition, in order to cope with the challenges encountered by Mini LED COB packaging technology in large-scale production, the industry is strengthening cooperation and jointly promoting the formulation of technical standards. This will not only help improve product quality, but also promote the healthy development of the entire industry. The establishment of standardized production processes and quality control systems will provide a solid foundation for the large-scale production of Mini LED COB packaging technology.
In terms of market promotion, Mini LED COB packaging technology also faces many opportunities. With the growing demand for high-definition display by consumers, Mini LED direct display products are gradually becoming the darling of the high-end display market with their excellent display effects and energy-saving characteristics. Enterprises cooperate with brand manufacturers to jointly develop customized solutions to meet the needs of different customers.
In the future, with the further maturity of Mini LED COB packaging technology and the further reduction of costs, it is expected that this technology will be applied in more fields, such as in-vehicle display, outdoor advertising, virtual reality, etc. This will bring new growth points to the Mini LED industry, while also bringing consumers a richer and higher-quality visual experience.