August 2022

Samsung is offering high-end microLED ultra-premium TVs, and has recently made plans to start producing smaller-size LTPS-based panels in an attempt to widen the market (even though prices are still extremely high and volume is very low).

According to a new report from Korea, however, not only that Samsung cannot really find customers for its TVs (which isn't a surprise given the price), the TVs are also suffering from high defect rates - even in units shown in retail or showcase events. The report suggests that the high level of defects in the TVs have caused Samsung Electronics to decide to currently not expand its microLED TV lineup, and has postponed the release of 80-inch and 90-inch products indefinitely.

PlayNitride debuted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, and the company, now public, trades on the Taiwan Innovation Board - this is the first company on the new board. The ticker for PlayNitride is 6854.

PlayNitride revealed that in 2021 it posted a net loss of around $40 million USD. In the first seven months of 2022, its revenues reached around $7.3 million USD, up 255% from the same period in 2021. The Company also revealed that it currently produces between 1,500 to 2,000 6-inch microLED wafers each month. PlayNitride expects to turn a profit in 2023.

QustomDot and MICLEDI announced a joint  development program to develop color microLED microdisplays using QustomDot's color conversion technology. The companies will demonstrate a microdisplay that offers a new architecture tailored for high-efficiency color conversion using stable RoHS-compliant QD materials. The displays will be produced using a high-throughput QD transfer and patterning techniques on micron-sized pixels.

QustomDot developed a patented method to produce high-quality and stable QD materials suitable for microLEDs. MICLEDI is producing its microdisplays on 300 mm wafers, and the company developed a new pixel architecture that has been optimized for high-aperture (>60% aperture at a 3μm pixel pitch) which the company says is a key requisite to achieve a high brightness with quantum dots.

UK-based Kubos Semiconductors raised $605,000 to launch its cubic-GaN LED technology into new markets, such as microLED displays.

Kubos says that its unique cubic-GaN technology can increase light output (and efficiency) of green LEDs. Kubos operates in a fabless model and says that its technology is fully compatible with standard LED development process on large wafers, offering lower cost volume production. Kubos is also looking to use the technology to produce red GaN LEDs.

China-based MicroLED microdisplay developer Jade Bird Display secured its Series A3 financing round, co-led by Eight Roads and Lightspeed China Ventures. JBD raised "several hundred million Yuan", which could mean anything from $30 million USD to $130 million.

In June 2022 it was reported that JBD is building a $92 million USD display production line in Hefei. The production line will have an annual capacity of around 120 million panels (likely JBD's 0.13" monochrome variant). JBD recently announced that it has developed a new red microLED emitter, that offers up to 500,000 nits of brightness at 2 micron sizes, and also that the company is developing native full-color microLED microdisplays.

According to Ennostar, the company intends to invest around $122 million USD in its Epistar subsidiary, with an aim to setup a production capacity of 150mm microLED epitaxial wafers. The investment will be performed in several stages.

Ennostar also updates that Epistar has completed its mini LED chip production capacity, but the demand for such chips is lower than expected, and so the company's mini LED production utilization is not at 100%.

Belgium-based microLED microdisplay developer MICLEDI launched microLED microdisplays with integrated micro-lenses, which it says it is a first for the display industry.

MICLEDI has already produces samples and test kits of blue microLED arrays, in addition to blue and green microLED arrays, and has shipped samples to potential customers. The company says that red microLED arrays will arrive in Q4 2022. The microLED arrays were produced in the company’s proprietary 300 mm manufacturing flow.

According to a report from Korea, both Samsung Display and LG Display started to develop microLED microdisplay technologies.

Both companies have recently started to develop OLED microdisplays. According to the report, Samsung targets AR devices with its microLED microdisplay technology, while it targets VR devices with its OLED microdisplays. Samsung's microLED displays will achieve a resolution of 6,000 to 7,000 PPI (higher than its OLED devices).

3D printer producer Anycubic announced a new consumer-grade pocket-sized 3D Printer, that is based on a small UVA microLED display, produced by JBD.

The display is JBD's standard 0.13" VGA display, but one that emits UVA emission. JBD also developed a custom projector for this new application. The extremely small, yet bright, display module, enabled Anycubic to design an extremely small printer (which is about the size of a 550 cl beverage can). The printer will be able to print details as small as 10 µm due to the high pixel density (>6000PPI) of the microLED display. The energy consumption during operation is only 6W.

AvicenaTech, a developer of microLED-based chip-to-chip interconnects announced its Series A funding. The company raised $25 million from Samsung Catalyst Fund, Micron Ventures, and others.

The company's LightBundle I/O technology is based on arrays of GaN micro-emitters that leverage the microLED display ecosystem and can be integrated onto any high-performance CMOS IC. Avicena says it leverages recent advances in the display industry to enable high volume, low-cost production of highly optimized microLED arrays.