Hot topics of the week: Review of major events from Apple, Signify, Sanan and other companies

This week, there are hot news in the LED industry. In the field of Mini/Micro LED, Apple, Comptek, Vivision Technology, Mega Optoelectronics, and Safulex have the latest news; in the lighting field, Signify is the world's largest LED lighting production base, and Lianyu Optoelectronics' fund-raising for smart lighting projects has been approved for registration; in the field of new technologies, there are new results in perovskite LED research....

[Selected Events]

★Apple may launch Micro in 2026 LED panel Apple Watch

On August 11, TrendForce revealed that due to supply chain adjustments, Apple’s first Apple Watch equipped with a Micro LED display will be launched in 2026 instead of being used on the new 2025 Apple Watch Ultra. It is reported that Apple has recently transferred the Micro LED mass transfer process to LGD.

★Comptek received 8 million euros in financing to accelerate the layout of Micro LED technology

On August 15, Comptek Solution, a III-V compound semiconductor surface treatment technology provider, completed an 8 million euro Series A financing. The company is committed to developing passivation technology used in the fields of optoelectronics and power supply. When applied to the side walls of Micro LED chips, this technology can effectively passivate the surface, prevent non-radiative recombination effects, and improve Micro LED performance and yield.

★Viles Technology plans to raise 27 million yuan to build a Micro LED production line

On August 15, Vials Technology announced that it plans to raise 49.94 million yuan, of which 27 million yuan will be used for the construction of the Micro LED production line project. The project construction period is expected to be one year. It is reported that the company has the R&D, design and production capabilities from upstream optical projection imaging engines to downstream complete machines and diamond hard screen Mini/Micro LED displays.

★Huaying Technology plans to establish a joint venture with Zhaoyuan Optoelectronics to establish a Mini/Micro LED company

According to news on August 18, LCD panel and module manufacturer Huaying Technology plans to establish a joint venture project company with LED manufacturer Zhaoyuan Optoelectronics, focusing on high value-added products such as Mini LED, gold-tin high power, colored light and Micro LED. The specific business scope covers the production and manufacturing, wholesale and retail of LED substrates, LED epitaxial wafers, LED chips and equipment, as well as entrusted processing.

★Signify’s world’s largest LED lighting production base was completed and put into operation in China

On August 16, Signify’s world’s largest LED lighting production base in Jiangxi was completed and put into operation to meet the production capacity expansion needs of its joint venture Kaiyao Lighting. The new base is responsible for supplying Signify LED lighting products, including the Philips brand, to the Chinese and global markets, and plans to launch 192 production lines by the end of this year.

★Lianyu Optoelectronics IPO was approved for registration, and plans to raise 660 million to deploy smart lighting

According to news on August 11, Lianyu Optoelectronics’ IPO registration application was approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission and will be listed on the GEM of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Lianyu Optoelectronics plans to raise 659 million yuan to invest in production headquarters base projects related to smart lighting, as well as R&D center construction projects to improve lighting lamp production capacity, intelligent control systems, wireless networking technology, and high-power thermal storage materials.

★Sanan Optoelectronics: passed two funding proposals; Sanan Group has increased its shareholding by 0.04%

On August 14, Sanan Optoelectronics announced that the board of directors passed two funding proposals. First, it agreed to provide joint liability guarantees for seven wholly-owned subsidiaries, including Xiamen Sanan and Hubei Sanan, to apply for a comprehensive credit line of RMB 2.44 billion from financial institutions;

Second, in order to promote the business development of Hunan Sanan, Sanan Optoelectronics decided to invest 1 billion yuan in Hunan Sanan with its own monetary funds. The company is mainly engaged in SiC/GaN power electronics business.

In addition, Sanan Optoelectronics also revealed that Sanan Group had previously planned to increase its stake in the company by 50 million to 100 million yuan. Sanan Group currently holds 1,886,000 shares of the company, accounting for 0.04% of the total share capital of Sanan Optoelectronics, with a total amount of 31,200,604 yuan.

[New Products and New Technologies]

★Safulex releases full-color NPQD microdisplay for AR/VR

According to news on August 17, Savlus released a 0.39-inch full-color Micro LED display. It is reported that this is the first application of nanopore quantum dot (NPQD) technology in the field of full-color micro display. The display screen can help downstream companies create AR/VR equipment suitable for indoor and outdoor scenes.

★Jida Wang Ning’s research group has made new breakthroughs in the field of lead-free perovskite LED research

According to news on August 9, Professor Wang Ning's research group from the School of Physics of Jilin University published a paper in the academic journal "Nature", introducing multifunctional cyanuric acid (CA) into the lead-free tin-based perovskite system, effectively solving the problems of poor stability of tin-based perovskite and low efficiency of Sn-PeLED. This method is expected to promote the development and commercialization of lead-free perovskite optoelectronic devices.

★South China University of Technology has made new progress in the field of deep blue perovskite LED research

According to news on August 18, the team of Professor Su Shijian of South China University of Technology prepared mixed halogen CsPb (BrCl) 3 quantum dots based on room temperature synthesis. The prepared quantum dot solution was post-passivated with the small organic molecule BOCzPh, achieving an efficient deep blue light-emitting diode with an emission peak of 469 nm, a peak external quantum efficiency of 2.8%, and a maximum brightness of 851 cd m-2.

【LED Performance】

★Seoul Semiconductor, Seoul Viosys: Q2 sales rebounded from the previous quarter

Recently, Seoul Semiconductor and Seoul Viosys have successively announced their 2023 Q2 financial reports. Driven by the growth of backlight, lighting, and WICOP businesses, the sales of the two companies have picked up compared with the previous quarter, and their utilization rates have recovered simultaneously.

During the reporting period, Seoul Semiconductor achieved sales of 255.2 billion won, a year-on-year decrease of 13%, and a month-on-month increase of 14%; Seoul Viosys achieved sales of 120.3 billion won, a year-on-year increase of 3.26%, and a month-on-month increase of 8.18%. The adjusted profit margins before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of the two companies were 7.1% and 3.6% respectively.

★8 LED companies released semi-annual reports, only two were profitable

This week, 8 LED-related companies announced their results. Bull Group and Ocean King achieved net profit growth of 1.822 billion yuan and 80 million yuan respectively, a year-on-year increase of 20.83% and 14.92%.