Micro LED another new blue ocean! Display giants are looking for market breakthroughs

Recently, LG announced plans to first apply next-generation display technology Micro LED to signage, which has commercialization advantages in terms of yield and price. This means that Micro LED application scope is further expanded from the current AR glasses, watches, car display, TV applications, is expected to be a large-scale expansion to digital signage and other commercial display areas!

It is reported that LG has been expanding its influence in Micro LED this year, has launched a variety of Micro LED products, such as Micro LED TV, conference all-in-one machine, but also purchased Micro LED related patents. Recently, LG released a resolution of 8K (7680 × 4320) 272-inch Micro LED signage “LG MAGNIT”. This is also the first time LG Electronics launched 8K resolution Micro LED products.

The news also said, Micro LED digital signage price is four times that of OLED, so whether the future will really land, remains to be seen. It is understood that in addition to LG will Micro LED applied to the field of digital signage, Samsung is also considering Micro LED applied to small size advertising signage.

As we all know, Micro LED is known as the ultimate LED display technology, with high brightness, self-luminous, unlimited splicing, low energy consumption and other absolute advantages, is very optimistic, is expected to have trillion consumer market demand in the future. But the current high cost, huge amount of transfer process can not guarantee stable yield, from the market really need some time to explode. lg announced that it will be used in the field of digital signage, there is no doubt that will further promote the commercialization of Micro LED, Micro LED is also expected to be in the small and medium-sized applications to obtain new breakthroughs, which is of great significance.

Digital signage is a kind of digital display equipment, as a new media concept, appeared in large shopping malls, supermarkets, hotel lobbies, restaurants, theaters and all other public places where people gather, through the large screen terminal display equipment, to release to the people about the business, financial or entertainment information, to meet the people’s audio-visual instant messaging needs. Some people call it the “fifth media” following the paper media, radio, television and the Internet. The main products include interactive whiteboards, LCD and LED splicing screens, commercial TVs and advertising machines.

According to different technical routes, they can be divided into LCD, LED, OLED, projector and Micro LED digital signage. At present, LCD digital signage is predominant, projector products are relatively rare, OLED is fighting against LCD and LED, and it is expected that future digital signage will develop in the direction of Micro LED technology.

LCD digital signage development is very mature, has been widely used indoors, but because it can not be self-luminous, low brightness, so the development of outdoor by certain restrictions, compared with other displays it is more affordable. With the arrival of LED technology, especially the maturity and development of small-pitch technology, LED has replaced part of the LCD digital signage market. Compared with LCD, it has a better display effect.

OLED digital signage, too, has gotten a lot of attention. It can also be self-luminous, and the display effect is also good compared to LCD and LED, but the problem of OLED heating and screen burning has not been solved, so the market development has been restricted.

Now with Micro LED technology, digital signage has once again climbed over a new peak in technology.

The emergence of Micro LED technology has completely solved the above technical problems. It not only realizes thinner and lighter design, but also provides higher image quality, brightness and contrast. In addition, Micro LED has a longer lifespan and higher power efficiency …… is expected to occupy most of the digital signage market in the future.

The digital signage market is a fast-growing market and is expected to continue its growth in the coming years. The digital signage market was estimated at USD 24 billion globally in 2019 and is expected to grow to USD 40 billion by 2025 at a CAGR of 8.18%.

North America and Europe are currently the major regions in the digital signage market, but Asia Pacific has the fastest growing market and is expected to be the major growth engine for the digital signage market in the coming years. Among them, China’s digital signage market demand is vast, according to Common Research Industry Consulting forecasts that China’s digital signage market size will grow 11% year-on-year in 2023.

In August of this year, DISCIEN released information stating that the global digital signage market size in the first half of this year was 1891K, a year-on-year increase of 5.9%. Among them, the overseas market size is 1405K, a year-on-year decrease of 1%, accounting for 74% of the global market; The market size of Chinese Mainland is 486.4K, up 32% year on year, accounting for 26% of the global market. The growth of the Chinese Mainland market is mainly driven by two factors. Firstly, the large orders of ladder media in the media industry have driven the growth of demand for digital signage. Secondly, the economic recovery has brought about an increase in demand in the catering and retail industries, which has increased compared to the same period last year. From the perspective of shipping size, the overseas market mainly focuses on medium to large sizes of 32 inches and above, while the domestic market has a more diversified demand for size specifications. Media, commercial retail, government (including public places), transportation, education, and finance are its main application areas, and there are many customizations.

At present, digital signage is mainly applied in retail, catering, healthcare, education, government agencies, transportation, entertainment, and so on.

The digital signage industry chain is a complex ecosystem that involves multiple links such as hardware, software, content, and services. Each link has different participants and stakeholders, requiring close collaboration and cooperation in order to provide better products and services for the digital signage market.

It is worth mentioning that we should also face up to the industry problems. At present, the digital signage market has serious homogenization of products and fierce price competition. Big brands, especially foreign brands, are reducing the digital signage business in Chinese Mainland. Industry insiders analyzed that, at present, the digital signage market is highly competitive, and the “volume” price is the norm of competition. The market scuffle has led to the reduction of digital signage business for some foreign brands. For example, LGE last year reduced its personnel in business display related businesses in Chinese Mainland, taking the route of “price increase and profit guarantee”.

Digital signage is a very broad prospects for the display market, is still mainly based on LCD, with the continuous progress of technology, OLED, LED, Micro LED will replace most of the LCD market, which is an inevitable trend. In the market price more and more “volume” of the situation, foreign companies to reduce the business in the Chinese market, which is an opportunity for Chinese companies, but the price and reliability of Micro LED is still the biggest obstacle to the popularization of the market, how to stand out in the fierce competition, but also need to take a long way to go.