Xinhua Finance Tokyo, February 19 (Reporter Ouyang Dina Zhang Yiyi) According to market estimates, China's LED display application products occupy more than 85% of the global market share. In recent years, with the increasing competition in the domestic market, Leyard, Lianjian Optoelectronics, Alto Electronics and other LED display leading enterprises have set their sights on overseas to seek a broader space for development, and Japan is one of the important target markets for these enterprises.
Chinese LED companies "roll" to the Japanese market
From the huge viewing screen at the home baseball stadium of the well-known baseball team Hokkaido Japan Ham Fighters, to the glasses-free 3D animation of the exterior wall of the building located in Shibuya, Tokyo, and Shinjuku, which are hotly searched at the famous "crossroads", more and more Japanese companies have adopted LED displays from China.
According to industry estimates, there are about Chinese LED display companies currently doing business in the Japanese market.
Twenty or thirty, at the same time, there are many small and medium-sized LED screen manufacturers to sell products to Japan through the first business, and the share of Chinese companies in the Japanese market has increased rapidly.
An analysis of the financial reports of leading companies also shows that overseas markets, including the Japanese market, account for an increasing proportion of the company's overall business.
In 2022, Leyard's overseas revenue will be 263.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2563%, and the proportion of overseas income of intelligent display increased from 3036% to 3780%。
As a major export enterprise of LED display, Absen overseas market is the focus of its business. In 2022, the demand for overseas LED displays will be strong, and the company's overseas revenue will reach 176.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of about 7582%, accounting for 62% of total revenue95% is one of the important factors for Absen to achieve both revenue and net profit growth. In the first half of 2023, overseas business grew even faster, with the Asian market (outside of China) growing by 119%.
It is understood that Lianjian Optoelectronics became an exhibitor of Interbee (International Radio and Television Equipment Exhibition) for the first time in Japan in 2019, and officially established a Japanese subsidiary in 2022. Ye Dunchao, head of the company's overseas sales, said that in recent years, Lianjian Optoelectronics' revenue in the Japanese market has grown by more than 30% annually, and the Japanese business accounts for 15%-20% of the overseas business. He bluntly said that the main competitors in the world's LED display market are Chinese companies.
In addition, Alto Electronics and Unilumin Technology have subsidiaries in Japan, and Lehman Optoelectronics has also set up an office in Japan this year to further develop its business in Japan.
According to the survey, at present, most LED companies mainly adopt the channel model for overseas sales, and contract overseas dealers to build a huge sales network, and individual head enterprises are also gradually cultivating their own online and offline overseas direct sales capabilities.
LED advertisement at the omnidirectional intersection in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, January 2024 (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Guo Dan).
Industry megatrends and differentiated competition
In the fierce market competition, enterprises can only continue to iterate technology, upgrade products, accumulate innovation fields, and enhance their differentiated competitiveness. COB integrated packaging technology, Mini Micro LED display technology, LED virtual shooting and other directions are expected to become new increments in the development of the LED market.
First, COB products tend to be mainstream, and MIP technology is becoming more and more mature. Almost all leading companies take CoB (chip-on-board) technology as their main investment direction. COB technology can integrate multiple LED chips more compactly, so it can be used to design and manufacture displays with smaller pixel pitch, higher resolution, and suitable for close proximity, such as indoor walls, advertising displays, etc. At Interbee 2023 held in Japan in November last year and ISE 2024 (European Professional Audiovisual and System Integration Exhibition), Chinese exhibitors such as Lianjian Optoelectronics and Alto Electronics showcased new indoor and outdoor LED products using COB micro-pitch technology.
Compared with COB technology, MIP packaging technology (single-pixel packaging or integrated LED packaging), which is more suitable for complex design and small-size display, is also becoming more mature. Leyard, Unilumin Technology, Absen and others have all chosen the technical path of COB and MIP packaging methods go hand in hand.
Second, from "huge" to "huge", the commercialization of Mini Micro LED has accelerated. Outdoor large-scale advertising screen is our general perception of LED display applications, but with the advancement of technology, Mini Micro LED is expected to be used in many consumer electronics display fields such as TVs, watches, AR glasses, etc., with its advantages of high contrast, wide color gamut, high brightness, low power consumption, long life, and short response time, bringing new output value growth. According to GGII, the global micro LED market is expected to exceed $10 billion by 2027. At Interbee 2023, Alto Electronics showcased a magazine-sized P03 Micro LED products, which present delicate picture quality and bright colors.
Third, the naked-eye 3D large screen has become a beautiful scenery in the field of commercial display. In recent years, many glasses-free 3D large screens at home and abroad have become Internet celebrity check-in points and tourist landmarks, and Lianjian Optoelectronics has presented many works and cases such as Chengdu Taikoo Li with its content creation capabilities and naked-eye 3D arc display algorithms, and glasses-free 3D has become one of its representative businesses. By the end of 2022, Lianjian Optoelectronics has built more than 30 glasses-free 3D large screens in more than 20 cities at home and abroad.
Fourth, XR virtual studios have brought about changes in film and television production methods. Can you imagine that many of the scenes in the hit Korean drama "Dark Glory" are not filmed on location, but are presented on the screen using XR virtual studios, and many times the actors are just in front of the scenes shown on the screen instead of in real life? The use of XR virtual studios has accelerated the growth of market demand due to the advantages of reducing shooting costs, shortening shooting production cycles, and improving the quality of film shooting. In addition to being used for film and advertising shooting, XR virtual studios will also be used for corporate events and online press conferences. Lianjian Optoelectronics, Alto Electronics and other companies have been deployed and explored in this field.
Trendforce expects the global XR virtual camera display market to reach 5600 million, 7600 million, 9US$800 million, respectively, will drive the demand for LED displays.
Fifth, the LED movie screen may subvert the traditional big screen in the future. Compared with the traditional projection + screen projection method, the LED movie screen has huge advantages in display brightness, contrast, color gamut, ultra-high-definition and other technical indicators, which can achieve a more three-dimensional effect, more realistic, fuller details, and a stronger sense of presence. In 2023, the domestic 10-meter LED cinema screen (HEYLED) independently developed by Shenzhen Times Huaying Technology Co., Ltd. will officially enter a theater in Los Angeles after passing the testing and certification of the Hollywood Digital Cinema Advocacy Organization (DCI), realizing the export of China's LED cinema screen for the first time. After overcoming the difficulties of technology, stability, replacement costs and industry interest interference, LED cinema screens are expected to set off a visual revolution in cinemas and become a new engine for industry growth.
The digital ** artwork of the "teamlab Unbounded" digital art museum in Azabudai, Tokyo, Japan, February 2024 (photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Qian Zheng).
More opportunities in the Japanese market**?
As the world's third largest economy, Japan has a very developed business, and there is still a lot of room for improvement in the penetration rate of LED displays in various application scenarios. It is based on this that Chinese LED display companies generally regard the Japanese market as one of the core overseas markets.
The first is the digital upgrade of advertising, enterprise business and other scenarios. Ye Dunchao, deputy general manager of Lianjian Optoelectronics' overseas sales center, said that there are many advertising screens in Japan, but it is estimated that 80%-90% are still traditional signage rather than digital advertising, and there is huge potential for upgrading and replacement in the future. At the same time, Japan is also the headquarters of many large enterprises, and there is also a very large market space for enterprise exhibition halls and conference applications.
Second, the digital transformation (DX) and green transformation (GX) led by Japan will bring more application scenarios. Compared with its economic development, Japan's e-government and enterprise digitalization development is relatively backward, and traditional means such as paper media and fax are still used in many fields, which exacerbates labor shortages and restricts labor productivity improvement. Therefore, Japan supports the advocacy of digital transformation and green transformation, and the future will be in urban management and industry 40. LED display and its AIoT applications are indispensable in many scenarios such as energy conservation and environmental protection.
Third, Japan's cultural and entertainment industry is developed, and there are many application scenarios of LED technology. Japan has many performance venues, such as theaters, stadiums, etc., which provide a huge demand for stage LED screen rental and fixed installation. At the same time, Japan is home to numerous art galleries, museums, theme parks, and leisure and entertainment centers, providing growth opportunities for LED amusement systems and digital entertainment experiences. For example, teamlab, which uses advanced technology such as projection technology, sound and light technology, and digital interactive technology to create digital art, is a Japanese company that uses LED lighting and display technology in its works. In addition, Japan's animation, film and television and other film and television production industries are developed, and related fields have a high demand for solutions such as LED display and XR virtual shooting. Alto Electronics is interested in this field, and has actively deployed the Japanese XR market with overseas film and television equipment manufacturers.
Fourth, there are many sports events and exhibitions in Japan, which provides a lot of opportunities for LED display companies. Japan holds major sports events and international exhibition activities every year in the world's top in the world, and Osaka will also host the World Expo in 2025, which is believed to also boost the demand for LED displays to a certain extent.
Editor: Xing Lisha.
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