News: Markets
13 January 2025
Micro-LED display market to grow to 34.6 million units by 2031
Shipments of micro light-emitting diode (LED) displays will surge to 34.6 million units by 2031, according to the ‘Micro LED Display Market Tracker – 4Q 2024’ of market research firm Omdia. However, despite this growth, micro LED displays are expected to account for just 0.9% of the total display market, as the technology remains competitive only in select applications over the forecast period.
Following reports in February 2024 that Apple postponed its micro-LED display project for its watch, some set brands and related suppliers have slowed their development of associated components and equipment. As a result, Omdia has significantly revised its market forecast compared with projections made earlier in 2024.
Despite some delays, many industry players continue to aggressively develop micro-LED display technology. Omdia forecasts that shipments in the micro-LED display market will reach 1.7 million by 2027, driven primarily by light-emitting diode-on-silicon backplane (LEDoS) in ultra-small-sized display devices such as extended reality (XR) devices, particularly smart glasses designed for outdoors. By 2031, XR devices are expected to account for 24.4% of the micro-LED display market.
“Smart-glasses require light-weight designs, low power consumption and high readability under sunlight,” says senior research manager Jerry Kang. “A few LEDoS suppliers have already achieved diagonal sizes as small as 0.15-inch, making them more suitable for lightweight on smart glasses compared to other display technologies,” he adds.
In 2024, numerous display manufacturers unveiled new micro-LED display prototypes that mainly targeted automotive, public displays, and virtual studios. This trend suggests that suppliers are anticipating greater adoption of micro-LED displays in niche applications.
“Due to the low cost competitiveness, many display suppliers are focusing on penetrating product segments where OLED or LCD struggle to meet customer demands for specific display sizes and performance,” says Kang. “Simultaneously, several component and equipment suppliers are proactively introducing advanced technologies to enhance the manufacturing of micro-LED displays.”
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