Xida Electronics Wang Ruiguang: P0.9 competition logic has undergone essential changes

As one of the earliest representative companies in China focusing on COB technology, Xida Electronics has been maintaining a tradition of in-depth dialogue with experts in recent years. Every year, Wang Ruiguang, general manager of Xida Electronics, puts forward unique insights into industry hot spots and challenges, and proposes new directions for industry development.

In 2026, as the LED display industry moves towards a new cycle of deep integration and value competition, the popularization of COB technology and the rise of MIP technology are pushing the industry into a new stage of coexistence and competition of "dual technology routes".

At the recently held ISLE, Wang Ruiguang told experts that Display shared a core point of view: the focal length of COB competition has dropped to P0.9, but the competition logic has undergone fundamental changes and history will not simply be repeated. MIP is in its infancy, and its future development is highly dependent on the construction of two core elements.

The following are the key points of the conversation excerpted from Experts Talk about Display:

Regarding the overall changes in LED display

Experts say Display: Based on this year’s Q1 performance, as well as the observation of technology displays, product forms, and customer demand changes at the two major international exhibitions ISE and ISLE, what do you think is the core signal released by the global LED display industry?

Wang Ruiguang: Overall, COB is in a stage of steady growth and has become the mainstream direction of the market; MIP is in its infancy, and there are still some problems that need to be solved in the development of the two technologies, mainly including the following phenomena or changes:

1) LED display no longer only looks at price, the display industry spotlight has been on "effect and quality";

2) The focal length of COB competition has dropped to P0.9, but the competition logic has undergone essential changes;

3) MIP is in its infancy, and large-scale development still requires the coordinated advancement of the industry chain;

4) The "panelization" trend is reshaping the division of labor in the industry chain. While the path is broadening, it also accelerates industry integration and stratification.

About the focus of COB competition

Experts say Display: In the current LED display industry, the focus of competition for COB technology has dropped to the P0.9 pitch market, and price wars are beginning to emerge. Will the price competition in this market completely replicate the previous fierce price war model in the P1.2 market, or will it give rise to other new changes?

Wang Ruiguang: Price fluctuations are the norm in the market. Especially for new entrants, "low price" is a common strategy for quick entry. But I think the competitive logic of the P0.9 market has undergone fundamental changes, and history will not be simply repeated.

The collective rationality of the industry is improving. Most companies have realized that the real competitive barriers and risks lie in the full life cycle reliability of products and corresponding cost control. LED display products usually have a 2-5 year warranty, which means that what the company sells is not only hardware, but also a long-term reliability commitment. The stability of a product over several years of use, its failure rate and the resulting after-sales maintenance costs are the core factors that determine whether a company can ultimately make profits in this market.

Therefore, the competition in the P0.9 market is an all-round competition among manufacturers in terms of comprehensive cost control capabilities, supply chain management, technology and long-term quality commitment. The ultimate winner is likely not the player with the “lowest price”, but the player with “the best full-cycle cost control under the same quality.” Of course, new players with abundant funds are still a variable in short-term price fluctuations, but it is difficult to shake the long-term pattern constructed by reliability and comprehensive costs.

About the progress of COB application expansion

Experts say Display: In 2026, what new breakthroughs will the industrialization of COB technology usher in? In all-in-one, outdoor ultra-high-definition, high-end commercial and other scenarios, which areas will become the core growth points for scale and volume?

Wang Ruiguang: The expansion of COB will develop along two value dimensions:

First, it will develop towards more delicate high-end display applications. What customers are really concerned about is not only the resolution upgrade from P0.6 to P2.0, but also whether COB technology can achieve breakthroughs in the two real "value dimensions" of more delicate high-end displays and overcoming harsh environments.

Xida Electronics has always been committed to improving core performance indicators such as brightness and contrast. Just like the indoor COB products we brought this time, such as the ordinary P1.5 product, the brightness reaches 2000nits without increasing power consumption. This is precisely to meet the requirements of high-end commercial conferences and other scenes that have strict requirements for image quality.

The second is to expand applications to outdoor and semi-outdoor applications. The outdoor COB market has been calling for a long time, but in the past it was limited by the three major technical bottlenecks of brightness, heat dissipation and protection, and there was a lack of truly "good products".

Currently, through industry chain collaboration, brightness and temperature control issues have been effectively solved. A breakthrough in waterproof technology is expected to be achieved in the second half of this year, when outdoor COB will enter the mass production stage. We have exhibited 4000nits high-brightness outdoor COB advertising machines at ISE and ISLE, which have been favored by foreign customers. Next, we plan to conduct extreme environmental tests on this product in Dubai, Russia and other places to ensure reliability before launching it into the market in batches.

In addition, the all-in-one computer market is expected to double its shipments in 2026 due to its deep integration with smart office and home scenarios, and major manufacturers are increasing their investment. At the same time, the important consumer market in the future will be the home of competition between COB and MIP, and traditional SMD technology will be difficult to intervene.

About the new competition and cooperation between COB and MIP

Experts say Display: In Xida’s system, are COB and MIP complementary or competing? How do you define their market boundaries?

Wang Ruiguang: In the strategic planning of Xida Electronics, COB and MIP technologies are market demand-oriented and form a complementary and symbiotic relationship. Their core logic lies in platform performance and cost, rather than internal competition.

COB technology has entered the mainstream maturity stage and is the fundamental basis for our steady growth. At the same time, MIP technology is in the critical early stage of industrialization, and its future development is highly dependent on the construction of two core elements: first, an independent and sustainable intellectual property system, which is the fundamental prerequisite for the safe implementation and large-scale application of the technology; second, a mature and efficient supply chain and competitive cost structure. The current market quotations are scattered, and the price difference between different packaging specifications is significant, which will directly affect the speed and breadth of market penetration of this technology. The key to achieving these goals is to promote in-depth collaboration and cooperation across the entire industry chain, and jointly open up the growth space for next-generation display technology through joint innovation and standardization.

Therefore, in the short to medium term, COB will continue to dominate the high-end and professional markets that have high requirements for reliability and display effects; while MIP technology is more suitable for some differentiated market segments; in response to the dynamic needs of these two types of markets, the company's production capacity planning will continue to be optimized. A corresponding expansion plan has been formulated this year, and the new production capacity is expected to be 2000-2500㎡/month.

About COG development prospects

Experts say Display: The industry has begun to pay attention to COG technology. What do you think of its current development stage?

Wang Ruiguang: COG is essentially just another generation alternative at the PCB level. Whether customers adopt it depends on only two points: whether there is an "intergenerational improvement" in performance, or whether the cost is significantly reduced.

The biggest concern right now is not the display or price, but reliability. Especially the solution that uses ordinary ICs and punches tens of thousands of holes in glass with a thickness of a few tenths of a millimeter is risky, and the maturity of the process needs to be verified. However, the company has a joint national project with BOE and will continue to closely track its progress.

Regarding the positioning and strategy of Xida Electronics under the trend of panelization

Experts say Display: In the industry reshuffle caused by the "panelization" trend and the entry of giants, how does Xida Electronics position its differentiated advantages?

Wang Ruiguang: "Panelization" lowers the industry threshold and expands the total market volume through standardization, but it also accelerates integration and makes the division of labor in the industry chain clearer.

This has led to a direct result: medium-sized companies that lack scale cost advantages or unique technical barriers will be under the greatest pressure in the standard product market, and the situation in 2026 is expected to be the most difficult.

Based on the gene of Xida Electronics, our strategy is to continue to focus firmly on high-end and differentiated tracks.

The first is to tackle technical difficulties, continue to break through the technical barriers of COB in high-end applications such as outdoor, high-brightness, and high-contrast, and prudently promote the industrialization preparation of MIP; the second is to achieve the ultimate in subdivided fields and become a key link in the industry chain that continues to be "required" in high-end, professional, and differentiated market areas and is difficult to be quickly replaced.

Facing the more complex competitive landscape in 2026, our survival rule is not "bigger" but "more irreplaceable".

Note: The MIPs appearing in this article are all Micro LED MIPs