Case Question
LEDs, placed everywhere from keypads to screen BLUs, have been widely adopted in cell phones because of their low power consumption. Adoption of LED technology has become so common that cell phones featuring longer standby times are no longer fresh enough to attract customers. Consumers demand newer and more exciting products, something LEDs can help to provide.
Light emitting diodes are a form of semiconductors. Having the advantages of compact size, longer lifetimes, and high energy efficiency, LEDs have long prevailed on 3C products such as indicators, displays, and so forth. LED is one of the most competitive products in the opto industry in Taiwan. As blue LEDs joined the mass production of red and green LEDs, the full visible spectrum finally came within reach, thereby enabling more expansive LED applications. A Taiwanese device maker and EPISTAR have collaborated in mobile phone applications over the long run, and both have become the premier worldwide suppliers for this market.
When the Korean group prepared to launch a new phone model at the end of 2009, they expected to differentiate their product from the rest of the market using innovative LED technologies. An extremely compact size, high brightness, and competitive cost were all three critical conditions that this Korean Group required in its LED purchases to realize their design. At the time, however, there was no suitable LED products available. As a result, the Korean Group initiated this product development with the Taiwanese device maker and EPISTAR.
Solutions
After investigating the dimension requirements and other specifications, and through a series of close collaborative experiments and intensive discussions, the Taiwanese device maker and EPISTAR finally could envision the chip that would both fit perfectly in their packages and meet the Koran client’s high expectations and detailed specifications.
Project Results
At the time of the early product development phase, the chips that met the Korean Group's high specifications were too big to fit their slim cell phone design, and those that would fit did not meet the device maker's own expectations of its clients' needs. As EPISTAR set to work on this project, a chip that met the high specifications while also matching the compact packaging needs gradually came into sight. Beyond only meeting expectations, this new chip also saved over 50% in costs for the client, and is currently rolling out at a volume of 50~80kk/M. This cell phone has a lot of 'cool' features. Out of all of these, however, the most interesting selling point responsible for much of its popularity gains is the LED display on the phone's body surface. A 7x15 LED matrix allows the user to display text or images of his or her own choice, an unprecedented feature for handsets. Sales figures for this model hit the lists for Best Selling handsets for weeks. LEDs for use in back, sideview, and decorational lighting have thus reached full bloom. Catering for the youth market, the Korean group pushes out new models frequently. Their success has taken place not only domestically, but also overseas and their use of innovative LEDs has been a part of that. Handsets increasingly demand more brightness and cheaper LEDs, all even as size reductions are also a clear trend. EPISTAR provided the Taiwanese device maker the right solution, and actualized the Korean client's concept of LED displays on handset.