Big trend: COB replacing SMD in LED display industry

Currently, COB (chip on board) technology is showing strong growth momentum, and the trend of replacing traditional SMD (surface mount devices) is irreversible. This trend is particularly evident in the field of indoor small pitch and micro pitch displays, driven by both technological evolution and cost reduction.

1、 Market pattern: One goes and the other goes, COB LED its rise to power
Market share continues to rise: The market share of COB products is increasing year by year, and it is expected that the growth rate will exceed 45% this year, while the market share of traditional SMD is facing continuous compression.


The micro pitch market has established dominance: In the ultra high definition display field with a dot pitch of less than 1.0mm, COB has become the absolute mainstay, occupying about 77% of the market share. Industry consensus indicates that the market with a point spacing of 1.2mm or less has been largely dominated by COB technology.
The substitution process is accelerating comprehensively: In the wider market with a point spacing of 1.5mm or less, the substitution rate of COB for SMD is accelerating, and the penetration rate is expected to reach 20% to 30%.

2、 Core driving force: COB’s technological and process advantages
The reason why COB technology can gradually replace SMD is mainly due to its comprehensive leadership in image quality, reliability, and technology:
Picture quality: COB uses a surface light source to emit light, completely eliminating the graininess and glare issues of SMD point light sources. The picture is delicate and uniform, with a wider viewing angle and no obvious color attenuation when viewed from the side, providing a more comfortable visual experience.
Ultimate reliability: The COB process directly encapsulates the chip on the substrate and fully wraps it with organic glue. This fully enclosed structure endows the screen with excellent dustproof, waterproof, and anti-collision performance, with a much lower failure rate than SMD, greatly reducing maintenance costs in the later stage.
Heat dissipation and lifespan: The bare chip is directly attached to the metal substrate, greatly shortening the heat dissipation path and effectively reducing the screen temperature, thereby significantly extending the product’s lifespan.
Process and manufacturing upgrades: COB packaging can provide tighter protection for small light beads, fundamentally avoiding pain points such as virtual soldering, bumps, and dead lights. Meanwhile, the COB production line heavily relies on automated equipment, reducing human intervention and ensuring product consistency and yield.
Vertical integration of industrial chain: The extension of packaging factories to downstream module industrial chain has become a trend. The COB technology roadmap (and related GOB processes) seized this industry transformation opportunity earlier and more sensitively than traditional SMD, promoting the overall upgrading of the industry chain.

3、 Future prospects: Layered coexistence and long-term substitution
With the continuous improvement of COB technology, equipment iteration, and yield enhancement, its manufacturing cost will continue to decline, further expanding its cost advantage. Although outdoor display screens are still mainly based on SMD technology, leading manufacturers are actively developing outdoor COB products, and mass production is just around the corner.
The future LED display market will present a pattern of “layered coexistence and long-term substitution”:
COB dominates the high-end and micro pitch markets: COB will continue to evolve towards smaller pitch, firmly occupying professional scenes such as high-end conference rooms, command centers, and broadcasting studios that require extremely high image quality, stability, and protection.
SMD adheres to the cost sensitive market: In the sinking market with a point spacing of 2.0mm or more, which is more cost sensitive, SMD will still maintain a certain survival space in the next 3-5 years with its mature industrial chain and lower initial procurement costs.

In summary, COB replacing traditional SMD is an inevitable result of the development of LED display technology towards high definition and high reliability. Although both will be in a parallel development stage in the short term, in the long run, it is highly likely that COB (and its derivative technologies such as GOB) will eventually occupy over 80% of the market share of LED displays.