IHS Markit: global shipments of microLED displays are expected to reach 15.5 million in 2026

The global market for microLED displays, though tiny this year, is expected to rise to 15.5m by 2026, thanks to a sharp fall in manufacturing costs that makes the emerging technology suitable for the mass market.

According to IHS Markit (NASDAQ:INFO), a business information provider, microLED shipments will total less than 1,000 units in 2019 and 2020.However, manufacturing costs are expected to fall rapidly over the next few years, along with the price of microleds, leading to widespread use of the technology in smartwatches, televisions, augmented reality systems and smartphones.

"While microLED displays are very expensive compared to traditional LCDS and OLED panels, they have advantages in brightness and energy efficiency that make them an attractive alternative for both small and large applications," said Jerry Kang, director of analysis at IHS Markit.Over time, microLED manufacturing processes will enable suppliers to reduce production costs.Once the process matures, sales of microleds will start to rise."

The cost of the fall

To illustrate the trend, the cost of manufacturing a 1.5-inch microLED display for smartwatches is expected to fall to a tenth of current costs by 2026.Meanwhile, the cost of making 75-inch TV screens will fall to a fifth of current costs over the same period.

Advances in technology

Like OLED, microLED is also an active light-emitting display technology, which means it can emit its own light without backlighting.They can be more energy efficient than LCDS by eliminating power-hungry backlights.In addition, microleds are brighter than oleds.

The microLED display consists of tiny arrays of leds, each representing a single pixel.Making the display requires taking a large number of LED chips from an lei wafer and placing them on the target substrate, a process known as mass transfer.

Manufacturing levels are expected to reach the maturity threshold by 2024."Despite the growth in acceptance, microLED shipments will still account for only 0.4 percent of the global flat-panel display market in 2026," Kang said.However, with nearly 16 million units shipped this year, it will enter the mass market, laying the groundwork for wider use in the coming years."

MicroLED display technology and market -- 2019

The IHS Markit report focuses on the microLED market demand forecast, which is based on three estimates of manufacturing costs and supply capacity to meet market demand.The report also focuses on the latest technology and supply chain of microLED displays, including suppliers, panel manufacturers and equipment brands.