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Following its report earlier this week that Apple will accelerate the adoption of mini-LED displays in its iPad and Mac laptop lines thanks to better-than-expected development from potential secondary vendor Sanan Optoelectronics, analyst Ming-Chi has published Today a new report that shares a little more perspective on the mini-LED display market as it relates to Apple.
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Kuo says that Epistar remains Apple’s initial partner for mini-LED chips, but that Sanan and others should be able to quickly join Apple’s supply chain as existing patents are not expected to serve as significant entry barriers. As a result, the mini-LED efforts by Apple and its suppliers have effectively moved from the “technology development” stage to the “economies of scale / cost” stage.
While Sanan has seen rapid development of its mini-LED capabilities that could allow it to ship large numbers of chips to Apple in the first half of 2021, Kuo says Epistar has experienced some performance issues that have led Kuo to reduce its fourth trimester. 2020 shows shipping estimates at 50% between 300,000 and 400,000.
Kuo has said that Apple has at least six iPad and Mac products with mini-LED displays in the works for launch in late 2021, but indicates that the initial batch of displays that will arrive through the end of 2020 will be for an iPad Pro.
Apple’s mini LED arrays will be mass produced in 4Q20, but due to performance issues related to the production process of display module materials, 4Q20 display shipments have been revised down by 50% at 300,000-400,000. We believe that the 4Q20 mini LED display will be used for the new iPad Pro.
Kuo has long predicted that a 12.9-inch high-end iPad Pro would likely be Apple’s first mini-LED product.
As stated in his previous report, Kuo sees fierce price competition among Apple’s mini-LED suppliers in 2021, and predicts that Apple’s costs for mini-LED arrays will drop by 50% in 2021 and 35%. % more in 2022.
Mini-LED displays, used on the order of 1,000 to 10,000 individual LEDs, can deliver deeper and darker blacks, brighter highlights, richer colors, and better contrast compared to traditional LED-based displays, although the technology has a significant increase in cost at the moment.
