South Korea invests 2.5 billion yuan to develop MicroLED, QD LED and other display technologies

According to foreign media news yesterday (7/15), South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that it will invest 484 billion won (approximately US$350 million, 2.51 billion yuan) by 2032 to develop iLED (Inorganic Light-Emitting Diode, inorganic light-emitting diode) display technology, including Micro LED, QD LED and nano LED.

The South Korean government stated that South Korea currently maintains a leading position in the OLED market, but it still lags behind other countries in the ilED field, and the corresponding LED epitaxy, chips and materials are still highly dependent on imports. The goal of this investment is to cultivate a complete localized industrial ecological chain and tap new growth engines for the Korean display industry.

OLED competition is fierce + supply chain security anxiety, South Korea is betting on iLED

It is understood that in the past, South Korea almost monopolized the global OLED market with the two giants Samsung and LG. However, in recent years, Chinese companies represented by BOE, TCL CSOT, Visionox, Huike, Tianma, etc. have risen rapidly with the support of the government. Not only have they surpassed South Korea in the LCD panel field, but they have also accelerated in the OLED field and are trying their best to catch up with Korean manufacturers.

Specifically, South Korea still has an advantage in high-end flexible OLED and other markets, but the share of Chinese manufacturers in the mid- to low-end OLED market is rising rapidly, and the technology gap is also constantly narrowing. In addition, Chinese companies are also catching up in the research and development of advanced technologies such as FMM-free OLED. For example, Visionox's ViP technology mass production process has been fully operational in 2023, and this technology will be introduced in the new G8.6 generation AMOLED production line. TCL Huaxing's printed OLED technology has also begun to move from the professional level to the consumer market, targeting the medium-sized application market with huge potential.

In addition, iLED technology is considered to be the next generation display technology that subverts OLED. Compared with OLED, iLED uses inorganic materials and has better performance in terms of lifespan, brightness, image quality, and energy efficiency. It avoids the "screen burn-in" (burn-in) problem that may occur after long-term use of OLED screens, as well as problems such as limited brightness. It is highly promising for its development potential in automotive displays, mobile devices, wearable devices and other fields.

It is also worth noting that the industrial chain logic of iLED technology, especially Micro LED, is significantly different from that of OLED. The core of the former lies in the manufacturing, testing and transfer of micron-level LED chips, which means it is closer to the scope of the semiconductor industry. China has a strong LED industry foundation, a complete industrial ecosystem and the support of national policies. Micro LED has been listed as a key development direction. Many companies have invested heavily in research and development and have made breakthrough progress. For Korean manufacturers, Chinese companies are coming fiercely.

Although Korean companies were early in Micro LED, QD LED and other technologies, due to production capacity issues, key components and materials are highly dependent on external sources, which creates an unsafe shortcoming in the supply chain.

South Korea’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy also pointed out directly in the statement that South Korea currently relies heavily on imports for the iLED chips and materials it needs. This means that if the market turns to iLED in the future, South Korea will not only be unable to continue the glory of OLED, but may even be in a passive position in future competition due to the lack of core technology and upstream supply chain.

In order to seize the opportunity in this global competition that will determine the pattern of the display industry in the next ten years, South Korea has actually focused its attention on the complete ecosystem of iLED in display applications for the first time as early as May 2022, and has launched a national-level special investment in its role as a chaser and chain replenisher. Against this background, Seoul Semiconductor has continued to tap the growth potential of Micro LED and other technologies in recent years. Its Micro LED products based on WICOP packaging-free technology have been put into mass production and are used in commercial display scenarios such as outdoor advertising displays and virtual studios.

Today, South Korea’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy officially announced the launch of iLED, a large-scale national research and development project, with clear goals and direct focus on pain points. As the South Korean government admitted frankly, this investment aims to solve three major problems: first, to reverse South Korea's relatively backward technology in the iLED field; second, to reduce its heavy reliance on foreign-made key LED chips and core materials and establish an independent and controllable local supply chain; third, to find a new economic growth engine for the country after OLED.

Conclusion

Taken together, the South Korean government’s investment in the development of iLED is, on the one hand, to address its shortcomings in next-generation technology, avoid being overtaken by competitors, and ensure the supply chain security of key national industries. On the other hand, it hopes to take the lead in breaking through technological bottlenecks and replicate the success of OLED in the blue ocean market of iLED, thereby continuing to lead the development of the global display industry.

From the perspective of the global display industry, this technology will have an impact on the evolution of global display technology. In any case, this global competition around iLED has begun in full swing, and the subsequent progress in various places will continue to attract attention.