Future Displays: AUO’s Decade-Long Journey With MicroLED, From R&D To Market Leadership

January 23, 2025 by Dave Haynes

This is a digest summary of a profile story from the new Sixteen:Nine Future Displays report – a free download available to all readers. You can find the information and download page here …

AUO was one of six companies that kindly stepped up to sponsor the report – the sponsor dollars covering off a lot of travel costs and a bunch of time to pull the nearly 250-page beast together…

Taiwan’s AU Optronics (AUO) has emerged as a main player in the still-evolving microLED display market, using more than 10 years of R&D to position itself ahead of competitors when it comes to commercial production.

While many manufacturers market LED video walls as microLED products, most are actually using miniLEDs and playing fast and loose with the technical definition of “true” microLED. AUO actually makes components and displays that meet the technical definition, based on the physical size of the LED light emitters.

Because AUO mostly goes to market as a white label manufacturer for consumer and B2B display brands, the microLED displays you see at trade shows that really are microLED are possibly, or probably, originating from AUO’s direct or partner production lines.

AUO’s microLED strategy focuses on three main sectors: large format displays (TVs and commercial panels), wearable devices, and automotive applications. An AUO manufactured true microLED is already on the market, but at a price point that restricts buyers to deep-pocketed sports stars and hip-hop moguls. The first product  expected to sell in meaningful volumes is a luxury European watch launching this year, featuring a 1.39-inch microLED face with 326 pixels per inch and brightness capabilities of up to 3,000 nits.

AUO sees microLED as its future display technology, citing advantages over OLED that include lower capital requirements and greater production flexibility. While an OLED manufacturing facility requires approximately $6 billion in investment, microLED production can begin with substantially less capital, and then scale more flexibly.

AUO’s target is cost parity with OLED by 2030, with an ambition of reducing costs by 50% every two years. That hinges on improving yield rates, reducing material costs, and enhancing panel performance. AUO’s strategy also includes minimizing third-party involvement by working with companies within its corporate family, such as subsidiary Ennostar and PlayNitride, where AUO is the second-largest shareholder.

Beyond microLED development, AUO is diversifying its business through strategic acquisitions in the digital signage software sector, including U.S. firms ComQi, Rise Vision, John Ryan, and Taiwan’s Space4M. The company also acquired collaboration display firm Avocor last fall.

While microLED products are beginning to reach customers, AUO executives acknowledge these are early days for the technology. The company is preparing next-generation production lines and, according to R&D VP Ivan Wu, UO stands apart from competitors who are “just preparing demo samples” while AUO is “delivering formal modules to customers.”

You can download the full story, part of a nearly 250 page report on Future Display tech here, off of this page. It is totally free. No strings other than a very short form to get a sense of who is downloading, and how many.