In the LED display industry in 2026, COB (Chip on Board) shipments continue to rise, accelerating penetration into the commercial display market; MIP (Micro LED in Package) is gradually gaining volume in the sub-P1.0 pitch segment.
Driven by market demand penetration and coupled with the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) price hike wave, multiple PCB manufacturers have initiated the construction and capacity expansion of display-specific HDI (High Density Interconnector) substrates this year. Recently, Haile Electronics disclosed its capacity plan: the planned annual capacity for COB/SMT (Surface Mount Technology)/MIP substrates will reach 150,000 ㎡ in 2026 (with the total HDI capacity expected to be 350,000 ㎡/year), and the total HDI capacity is planned to expand to 60,000 ㎡/month in 2027.
According to Hangjiashuo Display, Haile Electronics was founded in 2010 and has been deeply engaged in the LED display PCB market for 16 years. It has now entered the supply chains of enterprises such as Nanjing Lopu, Shanghai Sansi, BOE, TCL CSOT, HKC, Hikvision, Leyard, Unilumin, Qiangli Jucai, and GKGD (Note: in no particular order). Standing at the node of industrial transition, two questions are worth discussing: Why are PCB manufacturers expanding their HDI substrate capacity? What is the core competitiveness of this vertical manufacturer with 16 years of deep engagement, and what layouts are worth industry reflection?
Three Core Growth Drivers for LED Display Substrates
From the supply side, the PCB industry faces dual pressures in 2026: on the one hand, price increases in raw materials such as copper-clad laminates, electronic cloth, and copper foil are driving up manufacturing costs; on the other hand, the AI computing track is siphoning off high-end HDI capacity, with top manufacturers prioritizing new production lines for AI server hardware. This pressure is simultaneously transmitted to display-specific HDI substrates. Since they belong to high-end HDI along with computing boards and the underlying equipment can be reused, there is a risk of capacity being squeezed; at the same time, display substrates require specialized processes such as micro pads, GAP etching, and low warpage, with a limited number of stable suppliers, leading to constrained supply.
Against this backdrop, manufacturers deeply engaged in LED display PCBs, such as Haile Electronics, have chosen to increase their capacity for LED direct display substrates. According to observations by Hangjiashuo Display, this round of layout is not a short-term behavior simply chasing the bonus of price increases, but a strategic choice based on the medium- and long-term prospects of the direct display market and technology iteration trends. There are three logics supporting this decision.
First, the scale of the COB and MIP tracks continues to expand. At the COB level, according to the "2026 COB/MIP Display Report (Special Issue)", the overall output value of COB modules reached CNY 3.8 billion in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 11%. It is expected that by 2030, the overall monthly shipment volume of COB will climb to the level of 220,000 to 240,000 ㎡, with sufficient long-term growth space. At the MIP level, the overall capacity scale in 2025 is about 2,000 KK/month. It is predicted that the market scale will achieve a leapfrog increase in 2028, reaching the level of CNY 3 to 4 billion.
Overall, in the short term, the coexistence of COB and MIP has become an industry consensus. Both are core incremental tracks for the future LED display industry. The incremental space for both tracks is clear, and the demand for HDI substrates is moving upwards in the same direction.
Second, the continuous miniaturization of LED pitch is expected to drive the growth in demand for specialized HDI substrates. Currently, the core issue in the LED display industry is pitch miniaturization. Applied to substrates, for every downward iteration in pixel pitch, the substrate layer structure is upgraded by one level accordingly. It is understood that for products above P1.2, double-sided multi-layer through-hole boards can meet the usage requirements; products from P0.9 to P1.2 generally start with first-order HDI; for the P0.78 specification, an eight-layer three-order stacked blind via process similar to substrate-like boards is required. In the future, with the increase in the penetration rate of ultra-small pitch products, display-specific HDI is expected to become a deterministic track in the industry.
Third, the HDI substrates used for COB/MIP have higher value. The HDI used for COB/MIP is mostly blind and buried via boards with more than four layers, which have special process requirements for micro pads, board warpage, and GAP etching. The value per square meter is significantly higher than that of traditional SMD double-sided boards, making it one of the core directions for manufacturers to optimize product structure and increase gross profit. With the expansion of track scale, the upgrade of layer structure driving demand, and the inherent high-value attribute of the products, the superposition of these three lines makes display-specific HDI substrates one of the focal points of this round of capacity expansion. Against this backdrop, Haile Electronics has also presented its own product layout plan.
Haile Electronics: COB Business Matures in Implementation, MIP Completes Forward R&D Reserves
According to observations by Hangjiashuo Research, facing the market where COB and MIP develop in parallel, Haile Electronics has chosen a product strategy of gradient layout by pixel pitch and staggered positioning on both lines. Currently, Haile Electronics has built a complete specification matrix from P0.78 to P1.86. The maximum HDI process capability reaches 12 layers and 4 stages, and the minimum line width and spacing can reach 35μm. The current status of the two major product lines can be summarized as: the COB business has matured in implementation, and MIP has completed forward R&D reserves.
At the COB substrate level, the product matrix achieves full-specification coverage from entry-level pitch to ultra-small pitch. Among them, the P1.87 double-sided through-hole substrate is adapted for commercial mass-market scenarios; the P0.93 four-layer first-order HDI corresponds to the mid-end mainstream COB market; the P0.93 six-layer second-order HDI covers the mid-to-high-end small pitch market; and the P0.78 eight-layer third-order (3+2+3) stacked blind via targets the ultra-small pitch market at the Micro LED substrate level. For every mainstream pitch tier, there are implemented products and processes to support it.
At the same time, multiple core indicators of the products have reached the upstream level of the industry. Taking the P0.9 COB tin-plated substrate as an example, its GAP is stably controlled at 50±12μm, the tin-plated layer thickness is 0.8–1.2μm, board warpage is ≤0.5%, and expansion/contraction control is ≤0.015% (1.5 per ten thousand). At the MIP substrate level, Haile Electronics maintains a forward R&D pace. MIP02 has completed R&D trial production and entered the stage of mass production and delivery, which can meet the next-generation ultra-high-definition small pitch requirements; more advanced MIP has also passed feasibility confirmation.
Overall, Haile Electronics' layout logic is clear and balances offense and defense. The COB substrate is the current "cash cow" that has been realized and is being deepened, with products, processes, shared solutions, and capacity support all implemented; MIP is the next technical card that is technology-ready and awaiting market validation, which can constitute the enterprise's future second growth curve.
Three Core Competitiveness of Haile Electronics' LED Display Substrates
Beyond product layout, the competitiveness of Haile Electronics is also reflected in three dimensions: process, solution, and track.
First, at the process end, focusing on industry pain points, it independently develops laser-induced etching. COB tin-plated substrates have long faced an industry pain point—the GAP area between RGB chips requires partitioned etching, and the capability limit of traditional processes is stuck at 50μm. Addressing this pain point, Haile Electronics independently developed laser-induced etching—defining partitions through laser windowing, and then performing partitioned etching, pushing the GAP max down to ≤40μm (line bottom min 30μm). This process has been verified on the P0.9 tin-plated substrate with S1000-H base material. The enterprise has simultaneously planned subsequent roadmaps, aiming to drop to 30μm in 2027 and impact 25μm in 2028.
For every 10μm reduction in GAP, it means a higher proportion of chip light emission under the same pixel area, and the upper limits of the screen's ink color consistency, contrast, and pixel density are simultaneously elevated. At the same time, this advantage does not rely on purchasing high-end equipment, but is the know-how accumulated through years of repeated running-in and precipitation of process parameters and mass production takt time. It is a rare independently developed differentiated process in the PCB field.
Second, at the solution end, providing COB shared solution products for stronger customer stickiness. Among PCB substrate manufacturers, Haile Electronics is one of the rare players that can output COB shared solution products to LED manufacturers. According to introduction, it has now launched four real-pixel shared solutions for P0.93, P1.25, P1.53, and P1.86, and completed full-link normalization. Flip-chip selection, driver ICs, RC circuits and Flash correction storage, VH4/26Pin flexible connections and signal definitions, and plastic/plastic-steel bottom shell selection, as well as scanning methods and board thickness parameters, can be unified.
Based on COB shared solution products, Haile Electronics can quickly meet the needs of new COB players; for screen manufacturers, the ready-to-use complete solution can amortize the development cycle and material costs together; for Haile Electronics, public version products can bind the customers' design front-end to its own platform, continuously enhancing customer stickiness.
Third, at the track end, forward-looking layout of MIP and optical module substrates, making early moves in the incremental market. As the commercialization process of Micro LED accelerates, MIP technology has become one of the key paths for the industry to explore incremental markets and develop the consumer-grade market. Haile Electronics has advanced the development of MIP substrates ahead of time through the R&D rhythm of "applying one generation, exploring one generation"; the MIP02 product has completed R&D and entered the stage of mass production; the industry hotspot glass-based direct display board has initiated project approval.
Beyond LED display substrates, Haile Electronics also plans to cut its high-end HDI process capabilities into the high-speed optical module substrate-like board track. According to the enterprise, it has currently completed the solution development and sample verification for 400G optical module HDI boards, and reserved process capabilities in advance for the next-generation high-speed platforms of 800G, 1.6T, and 3.2T.
Summary by Hangjiashuo Research
Overall, the core competitiveness of Haile Electronics stems from the specialized processes accumulated from 16 years of deep engagement in the LED display substrate track, the continuously climbing mass production yield curve, and the high switching costs built for cooperative customers. Currently, Haile Electronics has completed its moves on all three routes: SMT, COB, and MIP. Among them, on the COB side, products, processes, public versions, and capacity form a complete closed loop, which is the fundamental base that has been implemented and realized; on the MIP side, the technology has also entered mass production, smoothly cutting into the supply chain of top MIP players.
The realization of the routes also requires capacity support. In 2026, Haile Electronics' planned annual capacity for direct display substrates is 150,000 ㎡, specifically including 30,000 ㎡ of double-sided direct display precision PCBs, 60,000 ㎡ of multi-layer through-hole direct display precision PCBs, and 60,000 ㎡ of multi-layer high-end HDI direct display precision PCBs. All types of board types can be self-supplied.
Looking forward, the realization progress of Haile Electronics' 60,000 ㎡ HDI capacity plan in 2027, the advancement pace of panel manufacturers building their own substrate production lines, coupled with the volume release speed of MIP products, will jointly affect the realization height of Haile Electronics' capacity expansion window in this round. It is expected that Haile Electronics can continuously release capacity advantages and technical momentum in the substrate track.