What They Say
Sixteen-nine.net interviewed Chris Riegel, CEO of Stratacache. After getting through the general business content (which highlights the changes that Riegel has made in reducing the Scala channel to have fewer and more qualified partners as well as the firm’s experience of big systems), he got to our main interest, the microLED technology that it is developing. (Stratacache Pursuing GaN on Silicon in Oregon) The firm is concentrating on a GaN on Silicon technology for device manufacture, using 300mm wafers. Progress has been delayed because equipment supply has been late because of Covid.
Riegel also accepted that although the cost of microLED fabs should be smaller than traditional LCD fabs, the firm will not compete with commodity TVs and volume displays. He sees the key long term market as:
those environments where using the fact that your emitter is so small, it’s not visible to the naked eye. So you can do transparency through window glass. You can bend and curve it. So the curved surfaces, the bend surfaces, the flex surfaces, because the emitters are so small, they’re within the bend radiuses of the substrates.
What We Think
Reigel’s comments about the challenges of being in a market with so many suppliers and cheap solutions are interesting and worth a listen if you are interested in the digital signage market. Not much news on the microLEDs, though! (BR)
