MicroLED vs. OLED Apple withdraws from MicroLED, the industry in Asia steps in

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While Apple has withdrawn from the MicroLED partnership with AMS Osram, the Asian market remains very fond of the technology. There are some promising applications and innovations in the field. But when will the real breakthrough for MicroLED come?

When Apple suddenly scrapped its MicroLED projects in March, it sent shockwaves through the industry. Will OLED screens rather establish themselves in cell phones and smartwatches in the future?

However, while MicroLEDs are temporarily damaged, thanks to Apple's decision, the center of development for the new display generation is now shifting even further to Asia - with strong competition currently occurring between several Asian countries.

There is currently a tough race in the field of MicroLED, particularly between South Korea and the People's Republic of China, as can be read in a recent report by the South Korean patent office, KIPO.

In the ten years until 2022, nowhere have so many patents been registered in the field of MicroLED as in their homeland, report the staff of the "Korean Intellectual Property Office" (KIPO). Following further in this order are Japan, China, the USA, and Europe.

Clear interest in China

However, the growth rate for new patent applications in the People's Republic of China, at 37.5% per year, is significantly higher than in South Korea (4.4%) or the USA (4.1%). This is a clear indicator of the "significantly more intense technological race between China and Korea," writes KIPO.

The application of light-emitting diodes with tiny chip sizes may not yet be sufficiently mature for the future Apple Watch or the next iPhone, but leading screen manufacturers in Asia remain very optimistic about the new technology.

"MicroLEDs are the future," say top managers at Samsung. An affordable television screen with the new technology is still awaited even at Samsung. The first TV screen with MicroLED launched last year costs nearly 100,000 euros or 108,000 USD  ach. But the company continues to invest large sums in research and development. The same applies to LG.

The South Koreans are now hoping that new partnerships with Taiwanese companies will enable them to better compete with the competition from the People's Republic of China in MicroLED than they had managed to do so in the past with LCD screens. "Both Samsung and LG have increased their orders in Taiwan for 2024," writes the research institute Yole in a current report.

Companies in Taiwan that have heavily invested in MicroLED development, such as AUO, PlayNitride, and Ennostar, have surprisingly become the new "MicroLED champions" in Asia. Other Taiwanese manufacturers like Innolux or Foxconn could "benefit from the vacuum created by the project implosion at Apple" with the help of these domestic supply chains, according to Yole.

Where is the soaring flight?

However, the breakthrough for MicroLED screens, which is still awaited in smartwatches and cell phones, could initially come in other applications, according to market observers. These mainly include car screens and luxury consumer goods like AR glasses.

The Taiwanese company AUO, which has already shown some pilot projects for cockpit screens with MicroLED at the CES car show, still firmly believes, according to its own statements, that this technology is superior to OLED in several areas. "The center of gravity is shifting to Taiwan and towards automotive applications," Yole writes about the latest trend in the MicroLED industry.

At the "Touch Taiwan 2024" exhibition, the Taiwanese manufacturer Innolux presented a series of innovations that are of interest for car screens and digital artists, including a transparent MicroLED panel, which is supposed to be brighter and more durable than comparable, transparent OLED screens.

Conclusion: Apple and its retreat from screen development with MicroLED have increased the pressure on the industry to demonstrate the usefulness of the new technology. However, pilot projects in Asia are promising in certain areas. "MicroLEDs are not dead," writes Yole. (sb)

*Henrik Bork, long-time China correspondent for German Süddeutsche Zeitung and Frankfurter Rundschau, is Managing Director at Asia Waypoint, a Beijing-based consultancy specialized in China.

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AMS Osram changes Micro-LED strategy