Why Samsung Semiconductor Division Is Focusing on 'LED Technology'

'Pixel LED for Vehicles' Wins Presidential Award
"Reaffirming Technological Leadership"

①Rapid Growth in Global Market... Demand Up
②Semiconductor Process Synergy... Efficiency Up
③Portfolio Diversification... Business Potential Up

Samsung Electronics' automotive pixel LED received the Presidential Award on the 21st at the "International Optical Convergence O2O Expo" held at KINTEX in Ilsan, Gyeonggi-do. On the right is the Executive Director of the Strategic Marketing Team, LED Business Team, Samsung Electronics. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Samsung Electronics' DS (semiconductor) division LED (light-emitting diode) business team is accelerating the development of automotive LED technology. Despite COVID-19, the global market is rapidly growing with high demand, and utilizing semiconductor processes allows for higher contrast ratio implementation and reduced luminous area, thereby improving production efficiency. From a business perspective, the goal is also to expand market position by having a comprehensive semiconductor portfolio for electric and autonomous vehicles.

According to Samsung Electronics on the 22nd, the automotive pixel LED developed by the DS division LED business team received the Presidential Award at the 'International Optical Convergence O2O Expo' held the previous day. Samsung Electronics attributed this award to "reaffirming LED technology leadership." Samsung Electronics' LED business history dates back to 1995 when Samsung Electro-Mechanics' LED division was launched. In 2009, Samsung Electronics and Samsung Electro-Mechanics established Samsung LED Co., Ltd. by equally sharing shares, and in 2012, it was merged into Samsung Electronics' DS division. The LED business has been steadily producing results, and according to market research firm TrendForce, as of last year, Samsung LED ranked third in global market share, chasing Japanese Nichia and German ams Osram.

Why does Samsung Electronics' DS division directly manage the automotive LED business? In short, it is to improve technological efficiency and create business synergy. From a technological standpoint, semiconductor technology can reduce the luminous area and simplify design to enhance production efficiency. The process steps of semiconductor and LED, such as substrate patterning (photo process → etching → cleaning) and exposure (projecting circuit patterns onto wafers with light), are generally similar, allowing for synergy. The main difference is the use of wafers other than silicon wafers used in semiconductors.

Samsung Electronics possesses the technological capability to implement the principle of gathering segments?the minimum unit of individually driven luminous elements per LED chip?into a single LED chip. Instead of installing individual LED segments on the substrate, about 100 segments are integrated into one LED. This is similar to how battery cell companies increase density to fit as many batteries as possible inside a vehicle. In the case of pixel LEDs, by simplifying the optical system and heat dissipation structure design, the required brightness can be secured with only about 1/16 of the luminous area compared to other intelligent headlamp LED modules. Thanks to this, the headlamp size can be reduced by 30 to 50%. Additionally, by installing partitions between each of the approximately 100 segments to minimize light interference between segments, a contrast ratio of 300:1?three times higher than conventional LEDs?can be achieved.

From a business perspective, this also lays the groundwork for diversifying the portfolio to include not only LEDs but also image sensors and system semiconductors. Alongside fierce competition with Taiwan's TSMC in foundry 3-nanometer process yield (the ratio of good products among finished products), business expansion cannot be neglected. According to market research firm Omdia, the global LED market size last year was $17.65 billion, a 15.4% increase from the previous year, and is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 4.5% from 2021 to 2027. Narrowing down to automotive LEDs, it is expected to grow to about $2.96 billion by 2026. However, although Samsung Electronics holds a world-class overall LED market share, it is still a 'follower' in the automotive segment, and the LED division's recent Presidential Award can be seen as recognition of its status as having the highest level of domestic technology, according to some conservative analyses.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.