"The LED display industry in 2026 appears cold on the surface but is boiling underneath. COB shipment volumes have grown by over 40%, panel manufacturers are entering with capital and capacity, and both PCB-based and glass-based routes are accelerating—the dimensions of industrial competition are shifting." In late October, when Hangjiashuo Display met with He Guojing, Vice President of NovaStar, he got straight to the point, revealing the true temperature of the industry as he perceived it.
In fact, amid this transformation, NovaStar is a sample worth dissecting.
According to data from Hangjiashuo Research, NovaStar holds a market share of approximately 60%–70% in control cards for LED displays, with an even higher share in the COB segment. At the 21st National Conference on LED Display Industry Development and Technology, NovaStar Chairman Yuan Shengchun attended and publicly stated that NovaStar "will never make screens."
This once again clarified NovaStar's boundaries: screen manufacturers are always customers. However, within these boundaries, there is no complacency.
During the dialogue with He Guojing, Hangjiashuo Display also clearly felt that NovaStar's moat lies not in single points, but in the compound interest of time and innovation derived from "entering early, navigating pitfalls, and forming a technical system," and that the company is currently making various preparations for growth:
First is the well-known full-link solution in the industry—centered on customers such as COB factories and screen manufacturers, beyond control cards and video processors, they further provide driver ICs, inspection equipment, etc., offering customers better and more comprehensive full-link solutions to enhance their market competitiveness;
Second is preparation for a potential "new track"—when technological and camp shifts push LED and LCD into direct confrontation, the opponents will be another technology route and another technical system. That will be a competition of completely different dimensions.
NovaStar has done extensive thinking and layout for this purpose.
Industrial growth has never been an abstract number, but the accumulation of growth for each individual enterprise. This article attempts to restore the complete logic of this dialogue—from the deduction of the industrial landscape, to NovaStar's philosophy of boundaries, to the second and third curves of growth—to see how NovaStar uses its own thinking and actions to drive the breakthrough of the CNY 50 billion output value (Hangjiashuo Research Data①) of the LED display industry.
The following is the transcript of the dialogue between Hangjiashuo Display and NovaStar Vice President He Guojing (edited and organized, with some deletions and modifications made without changing the original meaning):
Industry Perception: It Is Not as Cold as It Appears
Hangjiashuo: Many people say the industry is "cold" this year. What is your personal feeling?
He Guojing: From my personal perspective, it is not cold. For example, the progress of technologies like COB, MIP, and COG is not only not cold but actually heating up—investment, shipments, topics discussed by everyone, and an increasing number of projects all prove this.
Hangjiashuo: So is "cold" more of a feeling given to different people in different environments?
He Guojing: It is like a hot spring in winter—you say everywhere is cold, but try jumping into the hot spring, and you get a different sensation. This heat needs some time to spread overall. The macro situation has its own cycle; what we can do is make the best of the areas we can control.
Hangjiashuo: So which stage would you prefer to define today as?
He Guojing: Calm on the surface, intense inside. At the forefront, investment, market grabbing, technology advancement, and collaboration have never stopped. Many changes have not failed to happen; they just haven't surfaced yet.
Landscape Change: Panel Manufacturers Enter, Competition Logic Is Being Rewritten
Hangjiashuo: The most discussed topic this year is the acceleration of panel manufacturers entering direct-view displays. Previously, some views held that panel manufacturers' "ambitions lie beyond the CNY 50 billion output value of LED displays," and their layout was for defense of original businesses or offense into new businesses. From your current perspective, what exactly do panel manufacturers value?
He Guojing: In the first few years, it was wait-and-see and trial, observing whether LED displays were a threat—a defensive strategy: if so, enter early to establish advantages; if not, spend some money to verify, with low investment. But now, I think we have reached the second phase—everyone sees that this is a potentially huge market, and it synergizes with the existing market.
Hangjiashuo: How should we understand synergy?
He Guojing: LCD dominates under 100 inches, while LED dominates larger sizes, outdoor scenarios, etc. The two technology routes have respective applicable scenarios; it is cooperation rather than a zero-sum game. The middle ground is still being polished, there will be cross-competition, but it will become increasingly clear. The clearer the LED application market becomes, the more opportunities panel manufacturers see, so everyone is firmly investing.
Hangjiashuo: But if it is larger sizes and outdoor, doesn't it sound like the original CNY 50 billion LED display market?
He Guojing: Moving towards larger-size consumer B2C, cinemas, all-in-one machines, and outdoor creative applications—these are incremental markets, but all these directions are difficult—customers are unfamiliar, end-users are unfamiliar, and both walls need to be broken through. But difficulty does not mean not doing it. Panel manufacturers invest firmly, valuing precisely the increments beyond the stock. Overall, the incremental market transforms places that did not use LED screens into places that do, with continuous penetration. Panel manufacturers see that LED screens have more profit space and huge increments; this is the attraction.
Hangjiashuo: So whether it is panel manufacturers or existing LED display enterprises, they are jointly working to find a larger market—finding new application scenarios through new technologies to create 1+1>2 increments. Among the markets you listed earlier, which one do we truly recognize as having the most potential?
He Guojing: To C, entering homes.
Hangjiashuo: But the TV scenario itself is facing development difficulties and is currently in an awkward period.
He Guojing: Yes, so entering homes is not about hanging a display screen on the wall, but providing more multi-dimensional experiences. For example, turning the entire wall into a display screen, integrating with home decoration to bring a more unique living room experience; for example, enjoying beautiful images in a sun-filled living room; for example, family members watching their desired content simultaneously on the same large screen... This multi-dimensional experience is what I personally endorse. Everyone is actively exploring now, and the industry will definitely get better in the future.
NovaStar Growth Strategy: Two-Layer Preparation
Hangjiashuo: The breakthrough of CNY 50 billion relies on the accumulated growth of individual enterprises, closely related to the growth of every entity, especially leading enterprises. According to our Hangjiashuo Research data, NovaStar's market share in LED display control systems is approximately 60%–70%, with a higher share in COB. And Chairman Yuan publicly stated "never make screens." So, how does NovaStar contribute to breaking the CNY 50 billion output value?
He Guojing: Correct, NovaStar does not make screens. This is a fact, and will always be a fact. We do not touch customer businesses; we only support them in doing their businesses well. Because our boundaries are clear, and we deeply know where our moat lies. That is why customers have dared to entrust control systems to us for so many years. Of course, within the boundaries, there is no complacency. NovaStar's growth preparation is divided into two layers. The first layer is the full-link solution—centered on existing screen factories, COB factories, panel factories, etc., beyond control cards and video processors, further providing services such as driver ICs and equipment, offering customers better and more comprehensive full-link solutions. Additionally, the driver IC line is extending to silicon-based backplanes, cooperating with AI glasses, which will also become a new growth point.
Hangjiashuo: What about the second layer of preparation?
He Guojing: The second layer of growth is training our ability to cope with uncertainty, preparing for a potential "new track." We are not blindly betting, but judging alongside customers close to the industrial frontier. COB is a good example. Five or six years before its rise, we and our partners had already been working on this together. At that time, very few people in the market knew the term COB, let alone its technology, applications, and market prospects. On one hand, we invested heavily in internal R&D resources to develop new control, calibration, and driving technologies; on the other hand, we explored new equipment with partners, such as calibration, repair, ink color, and multi-angle lighting equipment, which previously did not exist in the industry. Meanwhile, in the market, we worked with industry experts, associations, and media to popularize the industry, bringing more people into the development of COB. Hangjiashuo was one of the backbone forces in this. Today, we see that COB has become the most active and largest growth point in the industry. So, in reality, every participant is part of the invisible hand of market trends. If viewed positively, one finds that the so-called industrial trend is never calculated by a single person, but created together by everyone.
Hangjiashuo: So, the first layer is deepening customer relationships under existing rules, and the second layer is ensuring that if the rules change, we are still at the table.
He Guojing: Yes. The two layers of preparation are not either-or; they are done simultaneously.
Hangjiashuo Display: The Breakthrough of CNY 50 Billion Relies on the Accumulated Growth of Individual Enterprises
Looking back at this dialogue, He Guojing's judgments can be summarized into three layers:
First layer, the industry is not cold. "Cold" is the feeling given by the external environment; investment, market grabbing, and technology advancement at the forefront have never stopped. The technological heat of COB, MIP, and COG, and the capture of indoor market share, are all "hot springs in winter." Calm on the surface, intense inside; changes have happened, they just haven't surfaced yet.
Second layer, the competition logic is being rewritten. Panel manufacturers have moved from defensive wait-and-see to the second phase of "seeing a larger market." CNY 50 billion is just the entry point; new scenarios like giant home wall screens are the 1+1>2 increments that panel manufacturers and LED screen factories are jointly seeking.
Third layer, NovaStar's strategic preparation is dual-layered. On boundaries, screen manufacturers are always customers; "never make screens" ensures collaboration does not cross lines, establishing the moat. Within boundaries, one layer is the full-link solution—extending control cards and video processors to driver ICs and equipment, providing better solutions for customers; the other layer is placing bets in advance for "new tracks," leaving room for the day when rules change. The two layers are not either-or; they are done simultaneously.
All grand industrial narratives begin with the small accumulations of every enterprise. Therefore, industrial growth and the breakthrough of CNY 50 billion output value are not abstract numbers, but the accumulation of countless judgments, investments, trials, and corrections by many enterprises like NovaStar, turning possibilities into reality bit by bit. The significance of the NovaStar sample lies here: holding firm and seeing far. The ultimate direction of the industry is formed by the collective choices of countless such enterprises, converging into the trajectory of industrial progress.
① According to Hangjiashuo Research data, in 2025, the global LED display market size reached CNY 48.573 billion.
*This article does not constitute any investment advice, nor does it constitute a recommendation or evaluation of any institution or product.
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