MicroLED Shines Bright: Dominating the Wearables Market

Next-Generation Display Technologies Advance: MicroLED Shows Strong Potential

Next-generation display technologies continue to evolve, with MicroLED regarded as the ultimate display technology. It holds great promise in transparent displays and demonstrates significant potential in semiconductor processing and advanced packaging. However, challenges remain, including high costs and complex mass-transfer techniques.

Today (September 9), Nextron Technology hosted the “2025 MicroLED Future Trends and Application Technology Forum”. Several speakers emphasized the importance of academia-industry collaboration in bringing MicroLED technology from the laboratory to large-scale production. The forum aims to foster innovation and exchange, enabling participants to collectively seize emerging opportunities in the MicroLED market.

Smart Glasses (AR/VR/XR) Market Poised for MicroLED Adoption

Dr. Chung-Chih Wu, Chief R&D Officer at National Taiwan University, highlighted that many academic teams, supported by the National Science Council, are actively developing next-generation smart displays. Their research focuses on MicroLED technology for augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and extended reality (XR) applications, including high-PPI resolution, full-color capabilities, driver ICs, and backplane assembly yields.

MicroLED is considered the most promising display technology for AR glasses. Its micro-scale size and high brightness allow integration with optical components, enabling sleeker, personalized eyewear designs, rather than the bulky “science experiment” style glasses of the past.

However, the smart glasses market is less mature than TVs or other displays, with high uncertainty. To succeed, products must target niche markets not served by smartphones or smartwatches, and fashionable design is critical for consumer adoption. Market maturity is expected around 2027–2028. Chung-Li Hsieh, Senior Manager at Omdia, discussed the challenges and opportunities of MicroLED and optical components in smart glasses, emphasizing that AI will be a key driver for market growth.

Ming-Chi Hsu, Director at AU Optronics, also highlighted the promising future of MicroLED, joking that as AUO’s core business is display technology, customers hold its MicroLED to higher standards. To address mass production challenges, AUO has invested in a G4.5 fully automated MicroLED production line, aiming to increase capacity, reduce costs, and overcome existing bottlenecks, ultimately moving MicroLED from proof-of-concept to commercial mass production.

Yong-Hsun Wu, Director at Innolux, projected that MicroLED will achieve a 46.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2025 to 2029, noting that transparent displays are gradually entering daily life. MicroLED is expected to become the next-generation mainstream display technology, with widespread adoption anticipated within the next five years.

Source of Information: TechNews