In 2023, the domestic LED display market experienced a recovery, while the international market, including regions such as North America, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, continued to grow. From a technical standpoint, COB (Chip-on-Board) LED display technology is developing rapidly, with increasing demand for MiP (Multi-pixel) LED displays.
Overall, the global LED display market maintained a growth trend in 2023. However, the upstream LED chip and LED packaging markets showed mixed results. Looking ahead to 2024, driven by fine-pitch and Mini LED displays, the global LED display market is expected to continue growing.
The upstream chip market, influenced by decreased demand for Mini LED backlighting and an increased share of mid- to low-end lighting chips, saw a decline in 2023. According to preliminary statistics, the global LED chip market fell to $2.5 billion, a 9% decrease, with revenue declines particularly pronounced among Taiwanese companies.
In the LED display chip segment, driven by a recovery in terminal demand and rapid growth in Mini LED display chips, the market grew to $600 million, a 6% increase. In 2024, as the terminal market continues to grow and with the support of COB and MiP technologies, Mini LED display chip demand is expected to increase further, which could drive additional growth in the LED display chip market.
Despite a continued increase in demand for LED display packaging in 2023, the market faced overcapacity, leading to further price declines. Additionally, the rapid development of COB technology caused a decrease in demand for some SMD (Surface-Mount Device) LED display packaging products.
In summary, preliminary statistics suggest that the global LED display packaging market was valued at about $1.4 billion in 2023, a 4% decrease year-over-year. Looking ahead to 2024, although COB technology will continue to grow rapidly, the share of MiP products is also expected to increase. With terminal demand as a driving factor, the LED display packaging market is likely to grow.
In 2023, the domestic LED display market saw a recovery, and the international market continued to grow, especially in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Application-wise, the growth rate slowed in markets such as all-in-one machines and virtual production, while the outdoor rental market grew significantly. Despite continued price declines due to competitive pressures, the global LED display market maintained its growth trajectory in 2023.
In the long term, the outlook for the LED display market remains positive. Although price declines in LED display products exceeded expectations, demand is expected to grow, driven by fine-pitch and Mini LED displays. It’s anticipated that the global LED display market could reach a size of $10.7 billion by 2027.
Virtual pixel technology became a hot topic in the LED display industry in 2023. Also known as shared pixels or dynamic pixels, virtual pixel technology allows one LED to be shared among 2, 3, 4, 6, or even 8 pixel points, providing multiple multiplication schemes. A four-fold increase scheme, for example, distributes four times the physical pixels over an even/odd row and column pattern, creating a half-pitch effect and resulting in four times the resolution.
Virtual pixel technology can significantly reduce the use of LED chips, thereby lowering the cost of LED displays. This offers new growth opportunities for the LED all-in-one machine market, the LED home theater market, and ultra-fine-pitch LED displays (P ≤ 1.0), which have underperformed in recent years.
However, virtual pixel technology also poses challenges. The main proponents of virtual pixel technology are COB-based manufacturers, with COB LED displays typically catering to the P1.2 and smaller markets. In the P1.2+ segment, technology based on real pixels may lose its cost-competitive edge. This could lead COB-based manufacturers to push into larger pitch markets using virtual pixel technology, likely increasing competition in segments like P1.5, P1.6, P1.8, or even P2.0. The industry should aim to use virtual pixel technology to expand into new application markets rather than focusing solely on the traditional fine-pitch LED display market.
