Overall, the size of the LED packaging market is still growing in the past two years, but the growth rate has continued to decline. Increasing revenue without increasing profits has become an inevitable curse for packaging companies. However, at the 2015 Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition that concluded some time ago, the vitality they displayed all showed the company's confidence in the lighting market. During the exhibition, we carefully observed the products displayed in the chip packaging brand exhibition hall, and through communication with enterprises, we learned about the current status of the packaging field and gained insight into the future development trends and changes in the competitive landscape of the LED packaging industry.
The four major future mainstream packaging technology segments are revealed
The trend of COB becoming the mainstream of packaging is becoming increasingly obvious
COB has always been favored by the industry because the light quality improvement effect it brings is unmatched by a single high-power device on the market. In a sense, COB products beat Haitz's law.
At this year's Guangya Exhibition, COB products became very popular and became the favorite of high-power series products. Both international giants and domestic packaging companies have expanded their COB product lines and are committed to improving high-quality, high-efficiency, and cost-effective COB products, such as AC-COB, flip-chip COB, etc., and customized services and solutions have become the sales strategy of major midstream and upstream manufacturers.
International giant Samsung took the lead in the industry to exhibit minimal light-emitting surface COB. In addition, international giants Lumileds, Seoul Semiconductor, and Bridgelux exhibited a series of high-performance COBLEDs. Domestic companies Everlight, Lextar, Ruifeng, Hongli, and Yimeixinguang demonstrated the COB effect with cases of LED finished lamps.
COB’s obvious advantages in the commercial lighting field make it the current mainstream solution for directional lighting, and it may become the mainstay in the packaging field in the future.
AC LED is popular in packaging and making modules?
During the exhibition, there was a rumor in the circle of friends: "Packaging companies no longer focus on packaging, but instead 'cross-border' AC modules and integrated light sources." Indeed, at this exhibition, SMD+IC and AC-COB have become the main products of major packaging companies, especially domestic packaging companies. The light source module with IC integration is divided into low-power devices and single COB devices, which can be used according to market demand.
The vigorous promotion of light source module component products and IC integrated products proves that system integration, modularization and modularization have become one of the development directions in the packaging field. "The AC LED (high-voltage LED) lighting market will become bigger and bigger in the future. ACRICH 3rd generation products have improved the light flicker problem of AC LED itself and can realize intelligent lighting functions." Seoul Semiconductor took the lead in making improvements in AC LED products.
CSP has great potential for cost reduction
CSP was controversial when it was first launched. With the gradual breakthrough of technical difficulties and the continuous reduction of costs, CSP (ChipScale Package) has gradually gained favor from LED lighting companies and has become one of the focus products of this exhibition. However, its price is still relatively high compared to products in the lighting field, and many companies have not been able to achieve mass production. However, its market for LED backlights and mobile phone flashes has been growing.
Although the current CSP technology faces problems such as low light efficiency, difficult welding, and light color consistency, its small light-emitting surface, high optical density, uniform color, small size, increased application flexibility, and large potential for cost reduction all indicate that CSP technology will be the future development trend of LED packaging. "This structure also has a certain market. This year, flip chip will account for 5%, and this trend will become faster and faster. It must be the direction of future development, but it is still difficult to say in which year it will be the same as formal chip." said a Hongli Optoelectronics interviewee.
"At present, there is no standard for the development of CSP. Everyone's size is not like the medium power 2835, 4014, and 5630. Everyone adopts the same standard. If a standard is formed, its promotion will be accelerated. It may take some time for lighting to use CSP, or a smaller size CSP needs to be developed." An interviewee from Yimeixinguang said.
Special fields such as UV LED are rising rapidly
As low-price competition in the field of general lighting becomes increasingly severe, the field of special lighting with high profits and broad market development space has become a new blue ocean for enterprises to develop. From the 2015 Guangya Exhibition, it can be seen that various packaging manufacturers are actively deploying UV/IR LED and special lighting technologies and applications. Although the proportion is not high, it has been included in the scope of wait-and-see and involvement, and its development has attracted much attention.
According to statistics, the overall UV (ultraviolet) market size reached US$815 million in 2014, of which UV LED output value was US$122 million, accounting for 15% of the overall UV market. Compared with traditional mercury lamps, UV LED has the characteristics of energy saving, less heat loss, long life, and concentrated curing wavelength. It is widely favored by the market. It is gradually replacing traditional ultraviolet light sources and entering the secondary replacement market.
In addition to ultraviolet LED, automotive lighting, medical lighting, plant lighting, etc. are also one of the market segments that companies are paying attention to. Plant lighting is mainly based on blue light and red light. Like deep ultraviolet LED, it requires large-scale application to further tap market opportunities. At present, LED headlights and turn signals have become the promotional highlights of high-end cars. Jingrui Optoelectronics has seized the opportunity to cooperate with a number of automotive lighting companies, and all lamp displays in the car have been modularized.
Although the high profits in the field of special lighting are attractive, the technical requirements for enterprises are also extremely high, and it is not easy to delve into it.
The gap between domestic and foreign countries is narrowing day by day
In addition, by comparing the displayed products of domestic and foreign packaging companies, the development of domestic companies is even more eye-catching. Zhang Hua, secretary-general of the Foshan Lighting Association, once said, "In terms of packaging and application, the technology of our domestic products should be in sync with international companies, or be ahead of it." Domestic packaged light sources are almost close to those of international manufacturers in terms of light efficiency and light quality, and they have more advantages in terms of product performance and price.
As an international packaging giant, Seoul Semiconductor also said that packaging companies in Taiwan and China are currently performing very well in the market. "They are already competitive with international manufacturers in terms of product quality and price. Such a competitive situation has also led to a decline in the price of the entire packaging product. If packaging companies want to survive in the market, they must rely on the company's own strength, unique core technologies and patents, and reform in product technology and production processes to overcome the crisis."
The interviewee from Yimeixinguang made a comparison from the perspective of CSP technology, "In terms of CSP, the international giant Lumileds is at the forefront. CSP used in mobile phone flashes has been mass-produced a year ago, and South Korea's Samsung has launched the second-generation CSP technology. A number of domestic packaging companies have also entered the mass production stage one after another, and they have more advantages in terms of technology and product reliability.
ANNA