(Image: LEDinside)

Epistar General Manager Chou Ming-Chun revealed at the company’s investor conference on December 5 that Mini LED is likely to be mainstream in the backlight market. After years of research and development, Epistar is expected to manufacture a small batch of Mini LED products in 2Q18 at the earliest, possibly boosting its revenue next year.

Chou stressed that the company will focus on a few new technologies, including backlighting, LED lighting, infrared applications, automotive lighting, and advanced digital displays in response to the growing demand in the market.

After Chinese LED companies gradually ceased price wars in the lighting market this year, pressure on Taiwanese LED firms became light and their profits increased. Chou stated that a major part of Epistar’s shipment will still flow to the lighting market; however, the firm will continue the transformation to shift the focus on to high-margin markets such as Mini LED and IR applications.

Chou added that it is hard to estimate when exactly to mass produce Micro LED considering several technological challenges, including the mass transfer process, that are yet to be resolved.

It is anticipated that Samsung will showcase the world’s first large-scale Micro LED TV at CES 2018, but that is still just a demo. Micro LED will at least need another two to three years to actually hit the market.