The market expectation is heading towards an immense demand for Mini LEDs, which could trigger a boom this year because the product will eventually spread into various applications.

 

This year, in addition to Samsung, other manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon, including the likes of Korean manufacturers that are stirring much discussion in the industry even before Apple, a major US mobile phone manufacturer, has also joined the battle. You can be sure that this is going to draw a lot of attention. By looking at the current supply chains of Zhen Ding, KY-PCB, and AOI equipment manufacturer Machvision, they stand to benefit from this product expansion trend.

       Zhen Ding has always been generous with its investments towards advanced technology. This has resulted in a significant annual capital expenditure. As a comprehensive-product line supplier for American customers, one of the many investments that have attracted attention this year is the project to expand the ultra-thin circuit board plant at Huaian by an estimated RMB 959 million. The ultra-thin circuit board targets PCBs for Mini LEDs.

 

Zhen Ding has refrained from making any general comments regarding potential customers or products. Nonetheless, Zhen Ding has indicated that the new product derived from their investment into research will be suitable for smaller displays - it will be more precise, thinner and lighter and, as such, ideal for tablets, laptops etc. However, it will not be suitable for TVs and e-sports screens as speculated by the market. Above all, its technical threshold has increased.

 

                                                                    
Legal investors from institutes have pointed out that the investments made by Zhen Ding at its Huainan plant include the substrate for Mini LEDs, SSD, and HDI PCBs for applications aimed at the automotive industry and many more. If these new products can be launched as scheduled, the revenue from Mini LED PCBs is expected to reflect in the fourth quarter of this year.

 

        The customers of KY-PCB are primarily from Japan and South Korea. Among those, KY-PCB has worked with Korean customers for TV boards, with products ranging from TFT, QLED, 8K, and The Wall. KY-PCB is also the main supplier of plates needed for LED and Mini LED.

 

Due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, institute investors conceded that, be it the customer’s need to maintain healthy stock-levels or the growth of the otaku economy, the shipment of household products has been favorable this year.

 

 

Furthermore, they are optimistic about the future of Korean manufacturers as they are actively seizing up the market share and have even started to prepare for procurements related to business opportunities derived from the Tokyo Olympic Games. Under such a context, these demands should help to bring in a lot of growth and momentum for KY-PCB.

 

At the beginning of the year, Machvision has listed a number of issues that could assist in growth momentum this year. This has included 5G related carrier equipment, Smart Cameras, full-inspection equipment for wafer packaging, etc. One of those in particular is the full-inspection equipment for Mini LED PCB (measurement and appearance). The aim is to place a lot of LEDs on the PCB, thereby the equipment introduced by Machvision will help in solving the problems of poor yield and assist in mass production. It is expected that the demand for this product will slowly peak in the second and third quarter. (Source: Commercial Times)