The LED display market will pick up in 2024. Compared with the first quarter of last year, the sales level of major enterprises has returned to positive growth; the continuous maturation and upgrading of technology has promoted the further deepening of scenario applications, resulting in a greater increase in sales area.
According to the "China Mainland Small Pitch LED Display Market Analysis Quarterly Report (China NPP LE) released by RUNTOD Display Market Analysis Quarterly Report" shows that in the first quarter of 2024, sales of small-pitch LED displays in mainland China were close to 3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.3%; the shipment area was 229,000 square meters, a year-on-year increase of 11.6%.
The market size and changes of small-pitch LED display screens in mainland China in Q1 2024
Data source: RUNTO, unit: 100 million yuan, thousand square meters, %
The average unit price dropped to 13,000/㎡, and the P1.4-1.1 spacing segment dropped by nearly 40%
As more and more companies enter the LED display market, competition intensifies, and the average price of the terminal market continues to decline. According to data from RUNTO, in the first quarter of 2024, the market unit price of small-pitch LED displays in mainland China was 13,000 yuan/square meter, a decrease of 6.3% from the fourth quarter of last year.
Looking at the pitch segments, the average market price of small-pitch LED displays in the P1.4-1.1 range has declined the most, down 40% year-on-year and 38% month-on-month, with an average price of 22,600 yuan/square meter. On the one hand, the considerable market demand has attracted many competing companies, and on the other hand, the continuous penetration of COB packaging technology has expanded the performance and cost advantages, especially with the help of virtual pixel technology, the competitive costs are more obvious.
2024 Q1 Small-pitch LED display market average price by segment in mainland China
Data source: Luotu Technology (RUNTO), unit: 10,000 yuan/square meter
Fine pitch (P≤1.0) has exceeded 10% of the market; MIP packaging has been put into practical use
From the perspective of product pitch structure, in the first quarter of 2024, in China's small pitch LED market, P1.4-1.1 will account for nearly 40%, reachingto 39.6%, an increase of about 13 and 9 percentage points respectively from the same period last year, which was the largest increase.
Products with P≤1.0, i.e. Mini/Micro products, have grown second, accounting for 11.2%, an increase of more than 3 and 1 percentage points respectively compared with the same period last year.
RUNTO analyzes that the profitability of enterprises and products, in addition to process maturity and cost reduction, also depends on product differentiation and optimization. Looking backward, the pixel and spacing miniaturization process of LED displays will continue to accelerate, and the proportion of products below P1.4 will continue to rise.
Structure and changes of small-pitch LED display market in mainland China by area in Q1 2024
Data source: RUNTO, unit: %
The penetration rate of COB packaging technology has grown rapidly, becoming the main driving force for market expansion in the pitch segment below P1.4. According to data from RUNTO, in the first quarter of 2024, the market share of SMD (including IMD) packaging technology in the small-pitch LED display market in mainland China fell to 79.6%.
The performance of COB packaging technology increased by 11.7 percentage points year-on-year, accounting for 19.9%; among them, COB packaging technology accounted for as high as 30% in the pitch segment below P1.4, and accounted for more than half in the pitch segment P≤1.0, reaching 54%.
MIP packaging technology has been put into practical use in batches, with a market share of about 0.5%. In May of this year, Leyard increased its MIP packaging technology, delivered its first MIP Micro LED project, and invested in the construction of multiple MIP production lines in Huli District, Xiamen. Unilumin Technology is also in full swing.Carry out COB and MIP technology routes and MLED product layout, and plan to reach MIP production capacity of 6000M/month by the end of 2024. Absen revealed that its pre-researched Micro LED and MIP new packaging technologies have completed process verification and small trial production.
Q1 2024 Small-pitch LED display market in mainland China, packaging technology structure and changes by area
Data source: Luotu Technology (RUNTO), unit: %
Information release application scenarios have become the main demand, and the education industry has grown significantly
LED display has benefited from the acceleration of micro-pitch and the development of MLED technology. The replacement of traditional display technologies such as LCD splicing, DLP splicing, conference projection and other products has been widely used in various industries such as government emergency response, smart cities, public prosecutors, energy, transportation, radio and television, etc.
According to research data from RUNTO, in the first quarter of 2024, the proportion of shipment area of small-pitch LED displays in information release scenarios became the first, a year-on-year increase of 22 percentage points, reaching 55.6%; the application of video conferencing scenarios became second, accounting for 32.4% of the shipment area.
From the perspective of industry application structure, the application proportion of government departments is still the largest, accounting for 27% of the shipment area; the education industry will see significant year-on-year growth in the first quarter of 2024, reaching 8.4 and 4.5 percentage points respectively, accounting for 22.1% of the shipment area.
Mainland China’s small-pitch LED display market structure by area application in the first quarter of 2024
Data source: RUNTO, unit: %
It is predicted that the sales of small-pitch LED displays in mainland China will increase by 11.8% throughout the year
The development trend of product technology has been very obvious. COB and MIP packaging technology will become an important factor in leading the market and reflecting the core strength of the enterprise. In the future, chip size will become smaller and smaller, and the cost of end products will continue to decrease, which will further promote the rapid development of LED display miniaturization and the small-pitch LED market will move towards micro-pitch.
The development of technology willPromote application scenarios from large government to commercial fields, and expand the application in emerging scenarios such as XR virtual shooting and movie screens. On May 24, six ministries and commissions including the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "Implementation Plan for Promoting Equipment Updates in the Cultural and Tourism Fields" to implement high-tech promotion actions in the film industry and promote independent innovation in film projection technology. Promote a new generation of theater equipment systems, implement a large-scale theater LED screen projection system update plan, and strengthen independent intellectual property rights theater equipment brands.
In addition, new products, new technologies, and new scenarios will become the new traction and focus of competition in the development of the LED display market.
In terms of scale, RUNTO predicts that for the whole of 2024, the market size of small-pitch LED displays in mainland China will reach 17.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.8%; the shipment area will be 1.13 million square meters, a year-on-year increase of 22.9%.
ANNA