The market has put a spotlight on Micro LED technology since Apple acquired LuxVue. Manufacturers of the industry have collaborated to boost the momentum of Micro LED as the technology becomes more and more popular in 2017 and 2018. Besides Apple and Sony, Samsung and Foxconn are also the big names that attract most attention.
Foxconn announced its investment in eLux in 2017, aiming to step into the development of Micro LED, which is considered to be the next generation technology after OLED. CyberNet, the subsidiary of Foxconn, invested US$ 10 million to acquire shares of eLux, making Foxconn Technology Group the biggest shareholder of eLux.
In June 2018, Foxconn’s investment project in the U.S., “Fly Eagle,” got upgraded to “Flying Eagle.” According to the chairman, Terry Gou, the project will select three states for investment and expand to another three states after six months or a year. It will not be only one production plant but the whole manufacturing chain that will be moved to the U.S. The total investment of the project may be more than US$ 10 billion in five years.
With the immense investment project, Foxconn will no longer be an original equipment manufacturer but a manufacturing-based international company on its way to industry 4.0 with the integration of intellectualized manufacturing, AI and big data.
In June 2018, Foxconn acquired 7.32% share of Epileds, a Taiwanese LED chips maker, from Catcher Technology to increase its engagement in full color LED chips. The company also turned to brand management as Sharp displayed its 70 inch 8K TV at CES 2018. Currently, Foxconn is preparing to present its achievement to President Trump on the new factory groundbreaking ceremony in Wisconsin.
Before 2020, with the help of Epileds, AOT, Innolux and Sharp, Foxconn Technology Group is planning to release Mini LED products including TVs, gaming laptops and gaming monitors. With the acquisition of eLux, Foxconn has completed its Micro LED industry chain. eLux, thus, could be considered as the last key puzzle piece of Foxconn’s Micro LED industry strategies.
It is a pleasure for LEDinside to invite the founder and CTO of eLux, Inc., Paul Schuele to share his insights of Micro LED transfer technology and its feasibility for mass production. eLux has applied patents for its fluidic assembly technology which practices massively parallel assembly processes. At Micro LEDforum, eLux will disclose more details about fluidic assembly.
LEDinside is pleased to invite all of our readers to experience the wonder of Micro LED at Micro LEDforum on July 12th 2018 at Room 201 of NTUH International Convention Center in Taipei, Taiwan.
Register now on http://seminar.trendforce.com/Ledforum/2018/US/index/