Ask your friends, what is the thing you are in touch with the most every day and the longest time?
Don’t think about it, nine times out of ten it is a mobile phone. In the era of mobile Internet, the probability of encountering a young man who does not use a mobile phone is a thousand times lower than that of the boss giving you a raise tomorrow.
But if you subdivide it from a hardware perspective, the most accurate answer should be: mobile phone screen.
Don’t underestimate this palm-sized screen, it not only determines our viewing experience, but also affects the entire Chinese display industry behind it.
In the past 20 to 30 years, high-end screens have been almost monopolized by Korean manufacturers. Samsung and LG have occupied 90% of the OLED market. Foreign companies have eaten meat, and domestic companies have eaten soup.
Now everything has changed. With the continuous efforts of TCL, BOE and other Chinese technology companies for ten years, the domestic screen has gradually equaled the old giants of Japan and South Korea.
The TCL Huaxing screen is equipped with the Xiaomi Mi 10 Extreme Edition, and the BOE screen is used in the Huawei Mate 40 series.
Not only that, but in the field of cutting-edge display technology, TCL has beaten a number of foreign companies with hard power 360 degrees without dead ends, surpassing the first-hand.
On May 12, TCL’s flagship TV X10 8K QLED TV won the “Best Display Product Award in 2021” issued by the International Society for Information Display (SID). It is the only smart screen in China that has won this honor.
Small partners may not know much about SID, so let’s make a simple science.
SID is composed of scientists and engineers in the industry. It has a history of 59 years and is the most authoritative official organization in the display industry. Well-known giants such as Google, Intel, and Samsung are one of its members.
The “Best Display Product Award in 2021” issued by SID is of significance to TV products, just as the Oscars are to movie actors, and the Grammys are to musicians, which are the highest honors in the industry.
Only the most powerful and powerful players of that year can get it, and the X10 TV is such a master who is alone in the peak.
As the industry’s first full-range 8K TV, it is equipped with the most advanced Mini LED panel. With the blessing of 25,000 lamp beads, it can achieve ultra-high-precision backlight and high color gamut coverage of up to 157%. A mobile cinema.
Combining many black technologies, it can be called the peak of TV in 2020 and a model of China’s smart display manufacturing.
It shows that Chinese technology companies represented by TCL have stepped into the ranks of the world’s display giants and began to lead the iterative evolution of cutting-edge display technology.
Seeing that domestic production is so powerful, four words echoed in Xiaolei’s mind: raised eyebrows.
In addition, the TV equipped with Mini LED screen won the award for the first time, which reflects to a certain extent that Mini LED will be the general trend, and it is likely to replace the current OLED and LCD and become the mainstream in the future.
Why do you say this, because no matter whether you know it or not, companies who can name it or not are flocking to the Mini LED market and want to join in.
Technology giants are increasing, and Mini LED is hot
Apple launched the iPad Pro 2021 last month. Everyone has heard of it. It sold a tablet to 18,000. It is the only one in the world, and its religious belief is well-deserved.
Among them, the 12.9-inch version is equipped with a Mini LED screen. The old man Cook also boasted at the press conference, which instantly became popular and spread throughout the digital circle.
Not only Apple is doing it, but also familiar brands such as TCL, Xiaomi, Samsung, LG, MSI, ASUS, etc., are also launching their own Mini LED products one after another.
For example, the TCL X10 TV that won the international award above, the Master Edition TV launched by Xiaomi, the Creator 17 notebook launched by MSI, and the PA32UX-P monitor launched by ASUS…
The categories cover digital equipment such as TVs, monitors, notebooks, etc. However, most of them are high-end products, and the prices are expensive, so most people do not know much about them.
In addition to the successive launch of Mini LED products, there are also big moves in the industrial chain that is very far away from ordinary people.
Many companies originally engaged in the panel industry and LED industry have collectively rushed into the tide of Mini LED production and research and development.
TCL Huaxing invested heavily to set up a laboratory for the research and development of Micro-LED; BOE built a Mini LED screen production base; HC Semitek, Nationstar, Lehman, Hongli and other old LED manufacturers also followed suit and promoted them together. The progress and popularization of Mini LED…
International manufacturers are pouring in one after another, and upstream and downstream companies are making frequent moves. What do these signals indicate?
It means that the Mini LED is the pig standing on the tuyere in Mr. Lei’s mouth, and it is about to soar into the sky.
TrendForce, a well-known research organization, also gave a forecast chart of output value. The chart shows that the Mini LED market will explode in the next five years, and the growth rate will be higher year by year.
It’s not Xiaolei’s bullshit, Mini LED does have the ability to explode in a short period of time and turn the two giants of OLED and LCD.
First, the effect is comparable to OLED, and the cost is the same as LCD.
There are two most popular screens today: LCD and OLED.
The advantages of LCD are high resolution, high brightness, low cost and long life, so they are mostly used in low-end TVs and monitors.
OLED has the advantages of ultra-high contrast ratio, gorgeous picture effect, can be bent and folded, thin and power saving. The disadvantage is high cost and short lifespan. Generally, it is only used in high-end products, such as flagship mobile phones and flagship TVs.
Mini LED has both advantages. By inserting a large number of small LED lamp beads into the screen as backlight, it can achieve high brightness and high contrast indicators that are no less than OLED screens. Resolution characteristics.
If Mini LED is compared to a mobile phone, then it is a magic machine with a pure system like an iPhone, equipped with top Android hardware, but selling at the price of Redmi.
Who doesn’t love it? Anyone who encounters it can’t help shouting: Really fragrant.
Because of its strong comprehensive characteristics, Mini LED has been regarded as the future of display technology in recent years, which is also an important reason why Apple has put it on its own iPad Pro.
With the gradual establishment of supporting production lines and R&D facilities in major factories, cost reduction and production increase, more and more products using Mini LED screens will appear in the future.
Second, Mini LED has a wide range of application scenarios, but it can be used wherever the screen is needed.
As mentioned above, major technology companies have launched flat panels, monitors, and TVs based on Mini LED screens.
In fact, Mini LED can also be applied to smart products such as smart speakers with screens and refrigerators with screens.
Especially affected by the arrival of 5G and the popularity of smart products, once the production capacity keeps up, Mini LED will ignite the entire market like a prairie fire.
Excellent effect + mature technology + low cost + wide range of scenarios, Mini LED is likely to explode in a short period of time and become the new king of the display market.
At that time, we can get rid of the LCD with poor display effect and say goodbye to the OLED screen that hurts the eyes, giving people a sense of expectation.
More importantly, domestic companies are expected to overtake Japanese and Korean manufacturers by taking advantage of the Dongfeng curve of Mini LED, and from now on become masters, allowing Chinese people to use high-quality and inexpensive screens.
In fact, there are already domestic manufacturers doing this, and it is the old brand we have known since childhood – TCL.
There is a jargon in the display industry: Mini LED, the world sees China, and China sees TCL.
These words describe TCL’s leading role and pioneer status in the Mini LED field.
Mini LED leader: TCL
Perhaps in the eyes of most people, Apple is the first company in the world to apply Mini LED screens to products.
In fact, TCL is the first company to conduct research and development of Mini LED technology and the first company in the world to sell Mini LED products.
In 2018, when all the friends and businessmen did not move, TCL showed the first prototype at the IFA exhibition.
In 2019, friends and merchants just prepared to show prototypes. TCL has mass-produced Mini LED smart screens with a resolution of up to 8K and put them on the market.
In 2020, when friends and merchants just started mass production, TCL went a step further and directly played the sea of tactics, launching a variety of Mini LED TVs covering different price ranges, such as X series, C series, 6 series, etc., and won 90% of the global share in one fell swoop.
While friends and businessmen were rushing to catch up, at the spring new product launch conference in the first two months, TCL launched another Mini LED TV [X12 8K Mini LED Xingyao Smart Screen] equipped with OD Zero black technology.
In the 9.9mm thick body, 96,000 LED lamp beads are packed, the number is 9.6 times that of the iPad Pro, the brightness reaches 2000 nits, which is twice that of the iPad Pro, and the contrast ratio is as high as 10,000,000:1, which is more outrageous than the OLED screen. The pinnacle of picture quality, the thickness is also the thinnest in the world.
This kind of TV, we generally call it: machine monster.
Thanks to its technological leadership, TCL has won numerous awards:
TCL C12 quantum dot Mini LED smart screen won the “Aipland Gold Award”, which is known as the Oscar in the field of smart life, with a high gold content; X10 8K QLED TV won the “2021 Best Display Product Award” issued by SID, TCL 6 series was awarded “Best TV in 2020” by Forbes, and TCL won the “Readers’ Choice Award in TV Category” by technology media PC Magazine for 3 consecutive years…
The award is about to fill a Xinhua dictionary, and the strong strength in the TV industry is fully demonstrated.
In March this year, TCL also joined the Mini LED Backlight Special Committee as the team leader, taking the lead in carrying out related work and formulating industry standards.
Help the rapid development of China’s new display industry ecology, and lead the members to make the cake bigger.
The strategic layout that is one step ahead of others and the solid and profound technical background have jointly created TCL’s absolute right to speak in the field of Mini LED and its unquestionable leading role.
Speaking of which, this giant who has continued to work hard in the display industry and led the global Mini LED to the sea of stars is now approaching his 40th birthday.
Taking advantage of this special time point, Xiaolei will review with you the road that TCL, a technology giant, has traveled in the past 40 years.
40 years as one day, running on the road of science and technology
Founded in 1982, TCL, like many famous technology companies, came from an ordinary background. It started out as a small factory producing audio tapes in Huizhou, with fewer than 300 employees.
The secret of TCL’s fortune is to seize the opportunities of the times many times, gain insight into technological trends in advance, and enter the market with continuous innovation.
The first opportunity appeared in the mid-1980s, when urban and rural areas would be connected, commercial exchanges would be frequent, and the public was in urgent need of long-distance communication equipment.
TCL saw business opportunities with a keen eye, and immediately transformed into manufacturing telephones. In 1986, TCL launched the first hands-free telephone [TCLHA868(Ⅲ)].
High quality and convenient hands-free function, TCL won the reputation of the first domestic telephone sales in just 3 years, with a share of more than half, and it is called “the king of telephones”.
The second opportunity was in the 1990s, after more than 10 years of reform and opening up, people’s wallets were full, and they began to pursue larger TVs and better experience.
Having no experience in TV production and facing huge unknown risks, TCL still chooses to trust its own business sense, and does not hesitate to concentrate all resources and invest in the development of large-screen color TVs.
In 1992, TCL launched its ace big-screen TV, which became a household name, and sold it to all parts of the country, relying on affordable prices, excellent quality and thoughtful service.
It only took three years to forcibly tore a gap in the encirclement of the old TV manufacturers and foreign heroes, and from zero to the top three in the country, it is not an exaggeration to call it a business miracle.
The name of Ace TV has spread all over the country, and no one knows it. Since then, TV has become the ace product of TCL in the future.
The first impression of the post-80s and post-90s on TCL is probably based on the old ace TV that has been used for 10 years at home and is not broken.
The third opportunity is in the millennium, when feature phones exploded. TCL was keenly aware of market changes and established Mobile Communications Co., Ltd.
Instead of playing the OEM model, it established its own production chain in a down-to-earth manner, invested a lot of manpower and material resources in R&D and production, and launched the first domestic flagship mobile phone, the 999D Diamond.
Fighting with international giants such as Motorola and Nokia will end the history of China’s inability to make high-end mobile phones.
Two years later, in 2002, TCL sold 6 million mobile phones with a revenue of 9 billion, reaching the top of the Chinese mobile phone pyramid.
TCL used three successful experiences to explain the attitude of striving for the best: either do not do it at all, and once I do it, I will be the strongest in its class and the most advanced in the industry.
Having achieved many successes, TCL, which occupies half of the digital market, has not rested on its laurels. It has actively developed new businesses, launched a series of products such as air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators, and lighting lamps, diversified development, insisted on independent research and development, and formed a huge color TV empire.
Later, it entered the overseas market, acquired many foreign companies, and laid out the global market. It was one of the earliest companies in China to sell products abroad.
Now entering the 5G era, when it is in its prime, TCL is closely following the pace of the times, tossing and beating on the wave of technology, and becoming a trendsetter in smart technology.
2019 is the first year of 5G commercial use. AI is going to be industrialized, and there is a great momentum to enter thousands of households.
TCL took advantage of the trend to put forward the AIOT strategy. At the spring conference of the same year, it launched 5 major categories and 30 products, and threw out TVs, air conditioners, washing machines, smart door locks and other home appliances, vowing to create all types of AI home appliances in the whole house.
And established Honghu Laboratory, focusing on AI and IOT technology research and development and product innovation, to provide guarantee for the AIOT strategy.
It was the most daring technology company at the time, and no one dared to launch such a variety of “family buckets” at one time
In 2020, the proposition of “smart technology” was released, vowing to break through the boundaries of traditional home appliances, and no longer limited to rudely intelligentizing a single product.
It is to create a smart home form with single product intelligence + multi-category interconnection and full-time response.
To put it bluntly, all the home appliances in your home can be controlled through the smart screen. Due to the reason of intelligence, they will continue to learn, understand our intentions and preferences, and continuously optimize their functions according to our habits, and finally achieve perfection.
This brings a wonderful smart home experience and redefines the relationship between “home and home appliances”.
Upgrade in 2021, accelerate the implementation of smart technology, and launch the first full set of new products “Lingxi C12”, the products cover every aspect of audio-visual entertainment, cooking and delicious food.
There are C12 quantum dot Mini LED smart screen, C12 quenching smart screen refrigerator, C12 duplex classification washing machine, etc.
The configuration is powerful, and the interactive experience is top-notch in addition to the parameters.
Step by step, TCL is down-to-earth in R&D and production. With 40 years of innovative spirit, it has sold from domestic to foreign countries, and now its business has spread to more than 100 countries.
In 2019, the cumulative TV sales volume ranked second in the world. R&D headquarters and production bases are distributed all over the world. TCL products can be seen everywhere in Europe, Africa and America.
It is even more dominant in the field of Mini LED. Whether it is technology or production capacity, it is far away from its friends. TCL is no longer a TV factory in the past, but an international technology giant integrating cutting-edge technology.
Everything is just as CEO Wang Cheng said: We are going from a chaser to one of the leaders in the future.
In the era of 5G+AI+IoT, we will witness how TCL uses “smart technology” to build a new world where all screens are connected and everything is connected.
China’s smart industry upgrade will go smoothly with the efforts of a group of Chinese technology companies represented by TCL.
