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Musing on Competitive Technology
Mini-LED
March 29, 2020
Mini-LEDs, which are used for high zone-count TV backlights carry a substantial premium to more typical generic TV backlight LEDs. Manufacturers, particularly those in Taiwan, have been extolling the virtues of such products to challenge OLEDs in applications where OLEDs don’t really compete (e.g. monitors) Over the last few weeks expectations were high for mini-LEDs, despite the slow demand due to the COVID-19 virus. The theory espoused by producers was that as the 2020 Olympics approached, consumers would step up the TV replacement cycle and opt for high-end systems, some of which would be based on mini-LED BLUs. While the headlines seemed to indicate that orders had been received, details indicated more that orders were ‘expected’ and that LED vendors were in preparation of receiving those orders. Now that the Olympics have been postponed, it seems that those expectations have quickly vanished, once again proving that “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” In reality mini-LED production is still a relatively small part of most LED manufacturing, and while it is certainly more profitable than generic LED production, it is also still a relatively small market. There are sets with over 1,000 ‘zones’ of LEDs, but they tend to be limited to sets in the premium (over $2,500) category, with most reasonable TV sets having between 50 and 200 zones, for which you do not need mini-LEDs. This leads to the conclusion that if mini-LEDs are going to eventually dominate the BLU space, it will be a bit later than most producers have expected, and that will likely be next year at the earliest.
Mini-LED
March 29, 2020
Mini-LEDs, which are used for high zone-count TV backlights carry a substantial premium to more typical generic TV backlight LEDs. Manufacturers, particularly those in Taiwan, have been extolling the virtues of such products to challenge OLEDs in applications where OLEDs don’t really compete (e.g. monitors) Over the last few weeks expectations were high for mini-LEDs, despite the slow demand due to the COVID-19 virus. The theory espoused by producers was that as the 2020 Olympics approached, consumers would step up the TV replacement cycle and opt for high-end systems, some of which would be based on mini-LED BLUs. While the headlines seemed to indicate that orders had been received, details indicated more that orders were ‘expected’ and that LED vendors were in preparation of receiving those orders. Now that the Olympics have been postponed, it seems that those expectations have quickly vanished, once again proving that “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” In reality mini-LED production is still a relatively small part of most LED manufacturing, and while it is certainly more profitable than generic LED production, it is also still a relatively small market. There are sets with over 1,000 ‘zones’ of LEDs, but they tend to be limited to sets in the premium (over $2,500) category, with most reasonable TV sets having between 50 and 200 zones, for which you do not need mini-LEDs. This leads to the conclusion that if mini-LEDs are going to eventually dominate the BLU space, it will be a bit later than most producers have expected, and that will likely be next year at the earliest.
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Barry Young
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