Coplus has long been known as the "Apple of automobile lighting mods" with its industry leading design and R&D capacities. With V2X connectivity on the rise, Coplus plans to build connectivity into its components in two to three years with AI wheel lights, electronic rear view mirrors, and AI shock absorbers. In addition, the company will leverage big data to improve its design and manufacturing processes, as well as help users monitor component usage. Coplus is the first company from the Taiwan Innovative Board (TIB) initiative to file for stock market listing in 2023, and is expected to be listed in mid-October.
Automotive LEDs became the driving force of LED deliveries in the third quarter of this year. As more new cars are poised to be launched, suppliers are ramping up more actively. LED testing and packaging companies like Brightek Optoelectronic, Everlight and Edison Opto are all optimistic that the demand for automotive LEDs will stay on the growing track in the second half of 2023.
Taiwan-based Favite, dedicated to supplying AOI (automatic optical inspection) equipment, has newly incorporated AI into its products, while also applying them to microLED and microOLED production processes, able to inspect 100 million LEDs in just six minutes, according to Minnie Wang, company vice president and spokesperson.
Chinese TV makers like TCL and Hisense showcased several new ultra-large Micro LED and Mini LED TV products at IFA Berlin 2023. It appears that they are setting Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics as their benchmarks and intensifying their efforts to catch up.
As the applications for microLED expand, it is being challenged by the relationship between cost, production capacity, and market demand that new technologies face when entering the market, according to chipmaker PlayNitride.
As Apple has decided that the next-generation iPad Pro's 11-inch and 13-inch products will both adopt the OLED display panel, supply chain partners have already started to expand their touch panel capacity quietly so that they will be able to meet the demand of the new iPad Pro's launch, scheduled in the mid or second half of 2024.
In the first half of 2023, the two major South Korean brands, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, continued their dominance of the global TV market. Samsung maintained its spot as the market leader for the 18th consecutive year, while LG's OLED TV achieved a market share of over 50% in the OLED market.
The collaboration between LG Display (LGD) and Mercedes-Benz on automotive OLED panels is expected to help accelerate adoption of OLED technology in the automotive industry, according to sources at Taiwanese IC design houses.
PlayNitride Chairman Charles Li said that the next 2-3 years will be pivotal for micro-LED development and that the company's goal is to push microLED into next-generation displays.
Recent reports from the cross-strait supply chain indicate that a major Chinese new energy vehicle manufacturer had ambitious plans early this year to make significant inroads into the upstream SiC compound semiconductor material-supplying sector. The plan involved a wide array of processes in the upstream supply chain.
Lai Ju Chen, chairman of the Taiwan Perovskite Research and Industry Association (TPRIA), said Taiwan has great potential in developing the third-generation perovskite solar cells (PSC). Taiwan holds advantages in the semiconductor, photovoltaics, and panel industries and its expertise is increasingly demanded due to geopolitical factors.
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics recently have both launched ultra-high-end, oversized TVs that are priced at over KRW 100 million (US$75,000) and feature next-generation microLED display technology, garnering significant attention in the industry. However, the price tags exceeding KRW100 million have also raised market curiosity about the strategic considerations of the two major Korean manufacturers.
One of the recent uses for AI is its application in service robots with an aim to incorporate them into more applications. Amidst the buzz is Nuwa Robotics raising nearly NT$200 million (US$6.26 million) in its series B round funding, led by its main existing investor, Foxconn.
With major CSPs aggressively building AI servers and pushing up demand for AI processors and HBM memory, global advanced packaging capacity is predicted to expand by 30–40% in 2024, according to TrendForce.
LED driver IC design house Macroblock has seen its Chinese counterparts raise their quotes, which is expected to end the price war, according to the Taiwan-based company.
LED chipmakers and packaging houses, including Ennostar and Everlight Electronics, are conservative about demand during the traditional peak season in the third quarter of 2023.
While Micro LED technology continues to advance towards commercial production, its market acceptance is still subject to observation. However, Taiwan-based LED chipmaker PlayNitride remains optimistic that microLED sales will grow exponentially in the coming years and expects to make significant progress in incorporating microLED technology into automotive applications in 2024.
It's reported that Samsung Display (SDC) plans to purchase all the shares of US Micro OLED maker eMagin by the end of 2023. If everything goes smoothly, this move will grant SDC the entry ticket to the military extended reality (XR) device market.
Taiwan-based display driver IC company Himax Technologies saw its sales and gross margin decrease in the second quarter of 2023. The company said demand from automotive electronics has been recovering, expected to bring its gross margin back to over 30%. However, its sales will likely keep declining slightly in the third quarter due to the sluggish consumer electronics market.
LED leadframe specialist I-Chiun Precision Industry has stepped up efforts to improve its product mixes, with plans to enhance its heatspreader output for advanced packaging, according to the company.
LGD (LG Display) has reportedly purchased Micro LED patents from a Taiwanese company. Most are on "transfer printing process patents," a core technology of Micro LED. It's speculated that LGD will use the transfer printing process with Micro LED backplanes to improve profitability. This technology is also expected to be used in Apple Watches in the future.
South Korean industry sources reported that OLED panels are expanding their application portfolio. It's estimated that the share of smartphones with OLED panels will exceed 50% for the first time in 2023.
Ennostar Group's Q2 2023 revenue and profit demonstrated a sequential improvement, though unused capacity continued to weigh on operations. The gradual recovery of the consumer market led to these gains, but the lingering excess capacity remains a concern. Ennostar Chairman, Paul Peng, highlighted that while H2 this year will likely outperform H1, the growth magnitude might not be significant. He added that optimizing unused capacity and enhancing profitability are top priorities for Ennostar.
Innolux expects an 8% growth rate in size for panels to be shipped in 2024, driven by large sports events such as the Paris Olympics, the European Cup, and the Copa América, all scheduled to occur between June and August next year. This anticipated rise contrasts with a capacity annual growth rate of just 1.6%, keeping inventory levels low.
