Premium TVs Now Seen As Biggest Business Segment For MicroLED Display Tech: DSCC

November 7, 2024 by Dave Haynes

The San Diego-area research and consulting form DSCC has released the latest edition of its MicroLED Display Technology and Market Outlook Report, which suggests microLED TVs are now the biggest segment for the emerging tech.

Wearables were expected to be the biggie, but that changed earlier this year when Apple – which has a huge patent library for microLED – decided to cancel the launch of a microLED-based Apple Watch.

“Apple’s exit has not completely destabilized the industry,” says DSCC in a report summary. “AUO has effectively become the new champion for MicroLED smartwatches and is shipping panels to Tag Heuer and Garmin. AUO has successfully managed to improve yield in 2024 and plans to further reduce costs next year. While the price of MicroLED is still expected to be much higher than OLED, MicroLED can be a viable option in high-end or professional devices. DSCC has increased the forecast for AUO’s panel shipments.”

AUO and other panel makers are also targeting automotive applications. MicroLED has been demonstrated either as a superior alternative to LCD/OLED, or as a transparent display that can enable innovative designs. Recent demos have been included in the report.

Samsung is the leading brand for microLED TVs and is now offering three models in the US, with prices starting from $110,000. While the price is not competitive against OLED TVs, microLED can be available in larger sizes than OLED. Therefore, microLED can be positioned as the premium solution for home theaters.

TCL has also entered this market, and the competition will likely put some pressure on prices. Assuming prices can decrease significantly year on year, the TV segment will be the main driver for revenue growth. Based on this scenario, total revenues for microLED displays are expected to be nine times bigger in 2026, compared to 2024.

The report is fee-based.

One of the big reasons I spent a week recently in Taiwan – apart from the food – was to get a sense of where microLED was at. As noted a bunch of times, most of what is marketed as microLED is just miniLED that marketers decided was teeny enough to call micro. But some of Samsung’s The Wall TVs really are microLED (sub 100 micron lights or dies), and I saw at AUO and elsewhere transparent microLED, interesting transparent microLED/LCD layered mash-ups, R&D microLED TVs that have costs way less than what’s on the market now, and microLED wearables.

Here’s a microLED video wall the size of a large TV, done by companies with business ties to AUO.

Here’s a microLED smartwatch in an AUO showroom …

Here’s an interesting slot machine prototype that has a transparent microLED screen with a conventional LCD screen behind it, creating some depth. AUO provided a preview of this for me, as well some other interesting stuff using seriously transparent microLED screens.