COB LED Displays Price competitiveness with SMD LED Displays Price by 2024
As LED chips continue to be miniaturized, the demand for display products below P1.0 continues to expand. The advantages of COB packaging technology in small and fine pitch LED displays are gradually being recognized. The point pitch of COB direct display products is steadily decreasing. Traditional SMD packaging technology becomes less sought after once the spacing reaches 0.6mm. COB can meet the demand for batch production of products with smaller spacing, while also addressing issues such as color gamut, stitching, heat dissipation, and flatness, making it highly promising.
Although the majority of products currently available in the market are SMD packaged, with the continuous improvement and cost reduction of COB technology, there has been a surge in competition between COB and SMD. It is anticipated that COB prices will further decline, leading to its partial replacement of the SMD market. Currently, the price of COB P1.2 products on the market is comparable to that of direct display SMD products. It is expected that next year, more COB direct display products will compete with or even undercut the price of SMD direct display products.
As the commercialization of Mini/Micro LED accelerates, the market demand for 4K and 8K displays continues to surge, driving significant expansion in the COB small-pitch market share. Industry insiders predict that indoor small-pitch SMD packaging technology has reached its saturation point and is now entering a phase of decline. The primary focus of traditional SMD surface-mount packaging will shift towards outdoor, rental, special-shaped, creative display, and other niche segments. With a promising outlook, the COB market is expected to witness an annual growth rate of 30%.
Currently, COB is extensively utilized in professional settings such as command centers and high-end conferences, as well as mainstream indoor environments like supermarkets and exhibitions, along with outdoor scenarios due to its exceptional display performance advantages encompassing protection, image quality, lifespan, and weather resistance. According to industry experts, the market share of COB has surpassed 10% of the overall industry scale this year, successfully achieving a significant milestone.
The deployment of multiple companies and the intensification of market competition have led to the expansion and commencement of production for Zhaochi and Gaoke COB projects this year.
On March 17th, Zhaochi Technology hosted the "2023 Zhaochi Crystal Display Inaugural Conference" in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, where a contract for 1,100 COB production lines was signed by Zhaochi Crystal Display. This signifies an expansion of Zhaochi's COB production lines from the initial 600 to a total of 1,700, establishing it as China's largest and most technologically advanced COB panel factory. Currently, Zhaochi primarily focuses on deploying COB box products and COB light panels (bare boards).
Recently, Zhaochi announced that COB direct display will emerge as a pivotal driver for its performance growth. The initial batch of 100 Mini COB production lines in the new expansion project of Zhaochi Co., Ltd. have been sequentially introduced into the factory for commissioning and put into operation. In the latter half of this year, as an additional 1,100 COB packaging production lines are progressively launched, the company's production capacity will witness a substantial boost. Concurrently, the company intends to introduce a range of high-end Mini LED COB televisions to facilitate the integration of Mini LED displays into C-end home scenarios. With augmented production capacity and expanding application fields, COB direct display is poised to become a crucial catalyst for future performance growth within the company's LED industry chain.
The Shanxi Hi-Tech Huaye Group organized a grand launch ceremony on March 28th in Changzhi for their new COB display project, which has received a total investment of 6 billion yuan. Currently, the Hi-Tech MLED COB project is fully operational since early December. Their high-tech products encompass a comprehensive range of standard panels from P0.6 to P1.5, as well as 16:9 standard full box and complete machine products. The complete machine field includes various options such as 108 hours, 136 hours, 163 hours, 2K and 4K all-in-one machines that cater to diverse needs in educational conferences, security monitoring, home theater and other fields.
Additionally, companies such as Ledman, Absen, Unilumin, Changchun Xida, Zhongqi, Shin Kong Taiwan, and BOE Crystal Core Technology have all implemented COB deployments and are highly optimistic about the future market for COB displays. With the increasing investment enthusiasm among many companies, competition for COB direct display products is expected to intensify in the coming years. It is foreseeable that numerous large corporations view COB display technology and products as a pivotal growth driver for their businesses in the future; thus, the sales volume of COB direct display products is anticipated to surpass that of SMD direct display products within the next few years.
In January of this year, Ledman Optoelectronics announced its plan to raise funds through share issuance, with a maximum amount not exceeding 689 million yuan. The raised funds will be allocated towards the expansion project for COB ultra-high-definition displays, which aims to achieve a design capacity of 72,000.00 square meters. Additionally, the funds will also be utilized to supplement working capital requirements.
Unilumin has established the world's largest LED production and intelligent manufacturing base in Huizhou. The Mini/Micro COB production workshop successfully accomplishes a fully automated and intelligent integrated production process, encompassing die bonding, sealing, testing, and packaging. The total production capacity has reached an astonishing 2000KK/month, with plans to increase the COB production capacity by 30% annually. This demonstrates Unilumin's commitment to "self-development, self-production, and self-sales" of COBs within the industry. Currently, Unilumin has achieved significant breakthroughs in outdoor COBs. The company unveiled its groundbreaking application case of the "world's first outdoor COB" during the Hangzhou Asian Games at West Lake.
The Absen COB Manufacturing Center Huizhou Intelligent Manufacturing Center has been operationalized, with a total investment exceeding 1 billion yuan and construction completed in two phases. Encompassing an area of 108,000 square meters and boasting a total construction area of 200,000 square meters, this facility seamlessly integrates product research and development, intelligent manufacturing, exhibition display, warehousing and logistics, as well as sales and service functions. Currently, Absen's flip-chip COB micro-pitch display products have gained widespread adoption in control rooms, studios, corporate lobbies, high-end commercial displays and other settings both domestically and internationally due to their exceptional performance.
Various indications suggest that COB packaging and display technology will be the future direction of development, particularly in the Micro LED field where it is poised to capture a market worth hundreds of billions or even trillions. While traditional SMD technology still holds its ground above P1.0, it is inevitable that COB will claim a portion of this market share. This fact remains indisputable. In light of such circumstances, both traditional SMD packaging factories and LED chip manufacturers have proactively planned and implemented R&D and manufacturing for COB products to effectively respond to emerging market changes.
More and more companies are increasingly investing in COB display technology and products, gradually considering COB as the focal point of their future sustainable development and performance growth. This will expedite COB R&D and technological breakthroughs, while enhancing its application reliability and maturity in small-scale fine pitch products and Micro LED products. As sales continue to surge, the rate of cost reduction is also accelerating. Consequently, indoor COB display product prices are continuously declining, ultimately replacing SMD displays as the mainstream. The industry has reached a turning point.
Links: COB LED Display | Indoor LED Display | Fine Pitch LED Videos
