Apple ’s 16-inch MacBook Pro has been well received since its launch. Many people are looking forward to the 14-inch update. From the current news, the new 14-inch MacBook Pro is not only a change in size, but also Introduce a new technology to Apple’s product line.
In December last year, Mingfeng Guo, an analyst at Tianfeng International Securities, released a report a> It is pointed out that Apple is planning to release 4 to 6 products using MiniLED. Guo believes that iPad and MacBook with MiniLED technology may be officially released in the fourth quarter of 2020 to the end of 2021. Taiwan Epistar Optoelectronics is the exclusive supplier of LED chips for Apple MiniLED products in 2020 and 2021.
Apple has already used OLED screens on the iPad Pro. This has also made the price of this product exceed 10,000 yuan. What is MiniLED? What are the advantages? How will Apple’s betting change the industry?
How many Minis?
Current screen technologies are mainly divided into two categories, LCD and OLED. The pixels of LCD screens cannot emit light by themselves, and a backlight source is required to illuminate the liquid crystal to display the picture. However, each individual pixel of an OLED screen can emit light by itself, so OLEDs have better color and contrast, and are also thinner. They can be made into a variety of forms such as flexible, curved, and folded. It is also the technology currently used in major high-end products.
LCD requires backlight module, while MiniThe technology of LED and MicroLED is to start with the backlight module and make the size of the light-emitting die small. The size of MiniLED is about 100 microns, while Micro LED is less than 50 microns, and the number of light-emitting die is greatly increased. More precise light control.
MiniLED is between traditional LED and MicroLED. The latter has higher requirements for precision. So far, mass production is still difficult. MiniLED is regarded as an outpost for the development of Micro LED.
Data source: High-industry research
Compared with MiniLED, Micro LED is not only a matter of accuracy. It can completely realize the self-emission of pixels. It is regarded as the next-generation display technology. MiniLED is only an improved version of LCD.
The most important feature of MiniLED, It is to realize the control of local backlight, that is, it can achieve the effect of individual pixels emitting light similar to OLED. It can have higher contrast, better black factory performance, Achieve finer HDR partitions while being thinner and lighter.
Compared to Micro LED, MiniLED technology is less difficult and easier to achieve mass production. Compared with OLED, MiniLED has advantages in cost and life. LCD TV panels with MiniLED backlight design have similar contrast to OLED , The price is only 70% to 80% of the OLED TV panel, cheap big bowl, industry and consumers love.
Although MiniLED is a transitional solution, it has practical value because it achieves a balance between performance and mass production and cost. Panels for mobile phones, tablets, displays, TVs, etc. can use this technology . LCD screen stepTo the high end, in addition to OLED, there is a second choice. MiniLED’s presence will be very high in the future, which is also expected to drive the sluggish display market, especially TVs.
MicroLED is facing a farther future. Compared to OLED, MicroLED has higher brightness and faster response speed. More importantly, it will not have OLED burn-in phenomenon, longer life and more suitable for folding. Special form. Many industry people believe that MicroLED has the potential to replace OLED in the future.
After Apple introduced it?
According to Guo Mingxiu’s report, Apple will gradually launch products equipped with MiniLED in the fourth quarter of this year. In fact, Apple has already started testing water.
In June 2019, Apple launched its flagship display Pro Display XDR, with a starting price of up to 39999 yuan. Apple officials have not announced that this product uses MiniLED technology, but the industry regards it as “MiniLED-like” technology.
This display has a resolution of 6K, a brightness area of 576 LED arrays, a maximum brightness of 1000nits, a P3 color gamut, and a contrast ratio of 1,000,000: 1.
In the layout of related technologies, Apple has also been planning for a long time. In 2014, Apple acquired the American display technology company LuxVue Technology, which was established in 2009. It mainly researches and develops low-power MicroLED display technologies for consumer electronics. It has a number of related patented technologies, which is regarded as Apple’s bet. MicroLED signal.
This transaction seems to be making a lot of money. Data shows , as of 2018, Apple’s number of patents ranked first among related companies.
Of course, as mentioned above, MiniLED is a more reliable transition solution. At present, there are very few models of OLED screens used in notebooks and PC products. The main limitation is cost. The increase in the cost of large-sized OLEDs is Exponential, and in order to upgrade the existing LCD experience, it is necessary to introduce MiniLED.
If Apple wants to make its products more advanced, a better screen is one of the most attractive features. After all, the excellent screen performance of Apple devices is the reason that many video and image professional users are favored. The introduction of MiniLED technology , Is expected to drive sales of new products.
In addition, Apple’s introduction of MiniLED can also balance the supply chain.
As we all know, Samsung currently holds most of the production capacity of OLED screens, which also keeps the cost of the screen high (the iPhone 11 Pro series screen costs $ 66.5). Apple this year tried to introduce BOE as a supplier of choice. One, but the ratio is still unbalanced. Introduce MiniLED, support the corresponding suppliers, hope to balance the supply chain of the screen, and regain the initiative in your hands.
MiniLED is still an expensive technology compared to LCD. Guo Mingdi ’s Report < / a> pointed out that Apple ’s MiniLED products are expected to contribute about 180 million, 600 million and 1.43 billion USD to the revenue of LED chip suppliers in 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively, and Taiwan ’s Jingdian is the first batch of exclusive Suppliers are expected to benefit from it. As for potential second suppliers, San’an Optoelectronics is the most notable long-term potential beneficiary.
Overtaking opportunity is a new track
At present, OLEDs, which represent high-end display technologies, are mainly controlled by Korean companies, mainland China and Taiwan. Both MiniLED and future MicroLEDThink of it as an opportunity to overtake a curve.
Taiwan’s industry said that in 2020, mainland TV brands will promote MiniLED-backlit LCD TVs, mainly to disrupt the high-end TV market occupied by Korean brands with OLEDs in the past few years.
High-industry research LED once point out , MiniLED from 2018 to 2020 It is expected to maintain a growth of about 175%, and the MiniLED market size will reach 2.2 billion yuan in 2020. With the increase in domestic demand for large-screen displays and the reduction in MiniLED prices, MiniLED displays are also expected to gradually start to increase.
Several related supply chain companies in China and Taiwan have announced the relevant layout of MiniLED:
In Taiwan, Epistar has shipped MiniLED backlight products in a small range for gaming laptops and high-end displays in 2018. Now it has taken Apple’s big order. Epistar estimates that this year The overall MiniLED accounted for 5% to 10% of Jingdian’s blue light production capacity.
In August 2019, AUO launched automotive rear-view mirror panels, professional monitor panels, ultra-thin gaming laptop panels and other products, all using MiniLED backlight technology; Innolux is a spin-off of Ruisheng Optoelectronics and Group Three companies, Fengjun Technology and Qunfenghong Technology, are deploying MiniLED technology in different fields.
On the mainland, on March 3, 2020, TCL Huaxing and Sanan Semiconductor signed a “strategic cooperation memorandum”. The two parties will jointly set up a joint laboratory to study MiniLED and Micro LED display business. In the first half of this year, TCL Huaxing plans to launch Mass production of backlight MiniLED products,
In September 2019, Huacan Optoelectronics and BOE and other companies signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Shenzhen to jointly develop MiniLED.
Hua Can believes that MiniLED backlight has begun mass production and application, and is currently rapidly entering the stage of cost reduction. In November, BOE Chairman Chen Yanshun said that in the future, BOE will stop investing in LCD production lines and focus more on OLED and emerging MiniLED andMicro LED and other fields.
In Japan and South Korea, Sony and Samsung deserve attention. Sony introduced the world’s first MicroLED TV “Crystal LED” at CES in 2012
Display “, in 2017, Sony named the” Crystal LED Display “technology as CLEDIS (Crystal LED Integrated Structure) and launched a large display the following year.
But Samsung has to be more active. At CES in 2018, Samsung showed an oversized TV called The WALL, which uses MicroLED technology. In 2019, it will display a home version of this technology, priced up to 10 At present, OLED screens are the second largest source of revenue for Samsung. Samsung, which has tasted the sweetness, is also working on new display technologies. In February 2018, Samsung Electronics and Xiamen Sanan also established a Micro LED strategic partnership. Promote R & D and mass production of MicroLED.
At the same time, the United States should not be ignored. The report shows that the United States is currently the country with the most advanced Micro LED display technology in the world. It has the characteristics of an earlier patent layout and active corporate mergers and acquisitions. In 2017, Apple, X-celeprint and Facebook in the United States have accumulated cumulative patents for Micro LEDs worldwide
25
The top three companies in the number of applications.
As a leading consumer digital company, Apple has a guiding role in upstream and downstream production lines.
If Apple introduces MiniLED, it will inevitably boost the industrial chain. In the next few years, we will see some MiniLED products listed on the market, and the related industrial chains are also expected to benefit. At present, MiniLED and Micro LED are still in the early stage of chaos. In the battle stage, in general, Taiwan’s industrial chain is complete, the United States has advanced technology, and there are large companies in Japan and South Korea promoting it. Everyone wants to replicate Samsung’s success in OLED.