Apple Chooses Taiwanese Suppliers for Mini LED Backlight Displays [Report]

Apple has chosen Taiwanese manufacturers to supply key components for its upcoming mini LED backlight displays, according to TrendForce. Taiwanese suppliers are said to have superior product stability and technological maturity. Additionally, collaborating with these companies could avoid impact from a China-U.S. trade war.

Taiwan invested in LED R&D significantly earlier than China did, meaning it leads the latter in terms of both technological maturity and patents. These advantages, combined with the ease of procuring raw materials and components, make Taiwanese suppliers more efficient in the development of new technologies.

Apple is said to be working on a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a mini LED display; as well as, new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros. Mini LED offers high brightness and high contrast ratios that can reach 1,000,000:1 compared to just 10,000:1 for mainstream displays. They are also highly reliable can deliver consistent brightness in harsh environments with temperatures ranging from 60C to -10C.


The 12.9-inch iPad Pro is said to feature 10,384 mini LED chips, achieving high contrast and high color saturation via local dimming. Epistar is purportedly Apple's number one choice for LED chips because of its excellent cost-performance ratio, high degree of consistency, and its protection of patents. FitTech and Sualtech are said to be key partners for stringent testing and sorting of Epistar chips.

On the other hand, SMT supplier TSMT is in partnership with K&S, as specified by Apple, to attempt to overcome mass production bottlenecks through their specific high-speed SMT process. For PCB backplanes, Apple has chosen to collaborate with Korean manufacturer YP Electronics and Taiwan-based Zhen Ding Tech, a subsidiary of longtime Apple ODM Hon Hai Precision Industry (better known as Foxconn). Finally, Apple has partnered with Heesung Electronics and LG Display, both Korean manufacturers, to supply its backlight modules and panels. With the release of Apple’s new models, more and more suppliers, such as GIS, Radiant, Sharp, and BOE, are expected to become part of Apple’s supply chain.

Take a look at the chart below for more details and hit the link for the full report!

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