Leyard: Substrate-less Micro LED chip application technology based on semiconductor process has achieved small batch sample development

On July 6, Leyard (300296) (300296.SZ) pointed out in the survey that ASIC and driver IC are jointly developed and mass-produced. The batch application of the company's Micro LED chips has been reduced from 89*150μm to 75*125μm. The substrate-less Micro LED chip application technology based on the semiconductor process has achieved small batch sample development. According to reports, the company has built a new southern production base in Changsha with a production capacity of 6,000kk/month. It reached full production at the end of last year. At present, the company's global production capacity planning has completed phased goals and has reached the requirements for generating scale effects. Leyard pointed out that the company's strategic positioning from 2022 to 2024 is in the direction of technology leadership and industrial layout, focusing on the smart display business sector, with Micro as the core.

The batch application of Micro LED chips has been reduced from 89*150μm to 75*125μm. According to reports, the company’s strategic positioning from 2022 to 2024 is in the direction of technology leadership and industrial layout, focusing on the smart display business segment, and using Micro as the core to carry out work. OriginalThe company's Micro products are planned to be extended from 0.9mm to smaller, and the minimum has reached 0.4mm. The goal is to enter the application of smaller pitch products. It requires the industry chain to make smaller-sized chips from the chip side, and then transfer them in huge quantities, and finally form display products. This is the research and development direction that the company has been investing in;

On the other hand, the company is combining market conditions and customer needs to pioneer the application of Micro technology to larger spacing. On June 30, the company released Micro's new technology and new products. This series of products adopts the most advanced Micro LED full flip-chip and packaging technology, which has high stability and reliability (solve the caterpillar problem). The contrast is increased by 3 times, the brightness is increased by 1.5 times, better uniformity, lower energy consumption, higher cost performance (close to the price of gold wire lamps) and other comprehensive technical and product advantages. Therefore, the era of MicroLED entering general display has begun. Whether it is a larger pitch or a smaller pitch, there will be space for Micro applications. At the same time, relying on technological breakthroughs, the company's lowest price of 4K Micro LED TV products over 100 inches exceeded 500,000 yuan for the first time, paving the way for Micro LED display technology to enter TOC market lays a solid foundation.

Lijing Company has also made major improvements in its process:

First of all, the mass transfer yield has been greatly improved. Leyard's Micro LED chip application technology has further matured. The batch application of Micro LED chips has shrunk from 89*150μm to 75*125μm. The substrate-less Micro LED chip application technology based on semiconductor processes has achieved small batch sample development. In addition, innovative die-bonding packaging technology has further improved the MicroLED die-bonding packaging yield, with the PCB-based mass yield rate rising to 99.995%.

Secondly, ASIC and driver IC are jointly developed and mass-produced. Leyard's full range of Micro LED products (P0.4-P1.8) are equipped with ASIC control chips and common cathode driver chips. (Take P1.2 as an example) the brightness is increased by 1.5 times at the same power consumption, the power consumption is reduced by 40% at the same brightness, and the contrast is increased by 3 times, truly achieving the best balance between display quality and cost.

The company's global production capacity planning has completed phased goals

Leyard said that in Shenzhen's Southern Industrial Park, aOn the other hand, several production lines previously located in different places in Shenzhen were brought together into an industrial park to narrow the management radius and reduce management costs. At the same time, the production capacity was increased from 3600kk/month to 6000kk/month; a new southern production base was built in Changsha with a production capacity of 6000kk/month, which was fully reached at the end of last year. In addition, there are production bases in Beijing, Wuxi Micro production base and production bases in Europe. At present, the company's global production capacity planning has completed phased goals and has reached the requirements for generating scale effects.

In the annual report, the company divided LED products into three major categories for the first time: one is display system; the other is display unit; and the third is display standard product. At present, the display system accounts for a higher proportion of the company's total revenue, but there will definitely be greater room for improvement in standard products in the future. The degree of standardization of display hardware products used in projects corresponding to the display system in the implementation phase is also increasing, just because it requires targeted solutions based on different industry customers.

Currently, the marketing method with the highest proportion is direct sales, because Leyard started with direct sales from the beginning. As of now, our direct sales account for almost 60% of our revenue. Direct sales promotesGuang's product is the Leyard brand display system.

Starting in 2017, small-pitch TVs entered the mid-range market. We accordingly launched the channel sales model, and the brand is still Leyard. By 2022, as the cost performance and stability of small-pitch products improve, it will become possible to enter the sinking market. We have adopted the Jin Lixiang brand to differentiate it from the original brand positioning. After a year of running-in and survival of the fittest with channel vendors, the Jinlixiang brand has become more and more mature in the channel market. In the future, we will continue to use these two brands to promote these two markets. At the overseas level, Leyard sees new opportunities and believes that the Asian, African and Latin American markets have the conditions to enter. In the first half of this year, the company reorganized its team and developed new products after market research. In the second half of the year, it will officially start sales in the Asian, African and Latin American markets through the Lemass and Leyard brands. Therefore, the company also hopes that in 2022, in addition to the European and American markets having a relatively stable growth in its original share, there will also be some supplements from the Asian, African and Latin American markets.

VR business performance contribution comes from NP Company and Beijing Virtual Point Company

Talking about the bottlenecks that need to be broken through in mass transfer technology, LeyardSaid that there are many ways to transfer large amounts of technology on the market. First of all, the company uses a laser transfer method; secondly, the equipment used in the giant transfer is customized overseas; in addition, there is the yield and efficiency of the giant transfer process. When the Lijing production line was first put into production, the yield rate of the giant transfer link was 98.9%, and now it has increased to 99.995%. The transfer efficiency is 1000-1500 pieces/second, which is among the leading levels in the industry.

It was mentioned in the conference call that the outbreak of Micro depends on the speed of cost reduction. Let’s look at it in two parts:

First of all, the company has released 0.9-1.8mm Micro products, which can basically cover more than 80% of the market with small spacing. Compared with the small spacing of traditional gold wire lamps, this series of products has higher performance indicators and is very cost-effective. Because the product has just been released, the company still needs to cultivate the entire market. This requires a process, but it should not take too long to be promoted.

The second piece is Micro with a smaller pitch. There are still some technologies that need to be broken through in this part, and more cooperation between the upstream and downstream of the entire industry chain is needed. For example, in the direction of COG, the company and TCL Huaxing have launched a glass-based transparent direct display screen, and are still doing the next step of research and development in quantum.In terms of technology, the company has also made phased progress in cooperation with Saphlux. In addition, the company has also cooperated with some major manufacturers in key links of the entire production process. The purpose is to promote the development of the entire industry and reduce the cost of Micro as soon as possible. Only in this way can the application of Micro in the larger display market be realized, such as regular-sized consumer TVs, VR glasses, pads, watches, car screens, etc. Liard pointed out that the core of the VR business lies in the optical motion capture technology and products owned by the company's wholly-owned acquisition of the American NP. The performance contribution comes from NP Company and Beijing Virtual Moving Point Company, mainly NP. NP Company mainly sells hardware and software overseas. Domestically, the expansion of the Chinese market through virtual mobile points is mainly to develop and implement customized solutions. At the same time, it accumulates data assets and hopes to carry out secondary development and utilization in the future.