Sapphire and differentiated consumer electronics products open competition

Sapphire has excellent optical properties, mechanical properties and chemical stability. Its unique structure, excellent mechanical properties and good thermal properties make sapphire crystal become the most ideal substrate material LED, LSI and so on. Its hardness, resistance to erosion of the manufacturing industry is more praiseworthy characteristics, the latest data show, if the Vickers hardness calculation, sapphire glass cover about the current iPhone application Corning "Gorilla" glass tripled. Intelligent terminal screen into the upgrade era, sapphire open a new pattern of competitive differentiation.

Apple iPhone6 ​​sapphire had been abandoned, and now they AppleWatch reuse, which might make once troubled sapphire industry usher in a new machine. With the power of AppleWatch and sapphire once again launched a large-scale offensive into the field of consumer electronics.

Traditional sapphire market demand is very inelastic

It is understood that the sapphire is a gem corundum, it first has been widely applied to some luxury and luxury watches them. The artificial sapphire in industrial applications, including LED industry and the consumer electronics industry, which is used in the sapphire LED industry more traditional markets.

Past the traditional sapphire industry, including window film market and LED sapphire substrate market, which tend to customized window film market, the price elasticity is small. The substrate market accounted for more than 70% of the traditional sapphire market demand, but the market will depend on the substrate of LED epitaxial wafers downstream demand. If the downstream demand is very good, even though the price of epitaxial substrate manufacturers can easily absorb the cost. Conversely, if the downstream demand is not good, even if the substrate is half the price drop, it will not stimulate more demand.

Therefore, from the whole, demand elasticity traditional sapphire market overall is very small. But then the sapphire in the consumer electronics market to find a new way out.

Sapphire and consumer electronics products forged "Fatal Attraction"

Since Apple iPhone5 will import sapphire lens cover, and then for the home button iPhone5S sapphire, sapphire will be with technology electronic products and forged a deep "fate."

However, this "fate" but also with changes in Apple's product planning, and became very tortuous, and finally evolved into the deep, "Fatal Attraction."

Sapphire concept in the technology sector pushed up to the summit, is GTAT the end of 2013 and Apple signed a $ 578 million worth of sapphire supply agreement. And, at that time, there have been iPhone6 ​​will abandon Corning Gorilla Glass, the use of hearsay sapphire screen. Apple this action, setting off a wave of domestic sapphire industry, when the A-share market and even to create a concept of some sapphire big bull stock.

But then Apple released iPhone6Plus iPhone6 ​​and does not use a sapphire screen, GTAT also led directly to bankruptcy. This gives the whole "hot air" sapphire industry poured "cold." At that time, many companies caught in a loss even sapphire toward collapse. For a time, the sapphire industry "collapse theory" rampant.

Is iPhone6 ​​abandoned, has become the darling of AppleWatch

It is understood that Apple has decided not to use the phone screen as sapphire, sapphire Bikang Ning because glass is more fragile, and the manufacturing process due to the difficulty of sapphire was beyond market awareness, costs also increased a lot.

However, iPhone6 ​​abandon sapphire screen, does not mean that Apple does not optimistic about the sapphire.

After the termination of cooperation with GTAT, some foreign media have constantly exposed technology news: Apple is still ongoing patent sapphire reserves. In related news sources, in February this year, Apple approved a sapphire display the new patent. In this patent document, Apple describes in detail a variety of sapphire crystal used in electronic devices methods, such as covering the iPhone camera lens with a sapphire glass, or cover the entire smartphone and smart watches the screen.

Also, Apple did not have a wide range of uses in the iPhone sapphire. And now, Apple will be its wide application in AppleWatch. According to Apple's official show, AppleWatch a total of 38 versions, Standard Edition Watch Edition series of 20 models and series of eight models equipped with sapphire screen, but after all AppleWatch shells are equipped with four sapphire lens.

Sapphire and consumer electronics products forged "Fatal Attraction," opened a new pattern of competitive differentiation

Insiders believe that, AppleWatch sapphire screen will greatly enhance the sapphire market demand. According to DigiTimes analysis, AppleWatch of sapphire purchases of more than 18% of global production of sapphire.

AppleWatch is a rocker, upstream brands boost demand

AppleWatch affected by Sapphire chain also beginning to show warming trend after China and Taiwan AppleWatch release sapphire related stocks appeared greatly increase.

And with AppleWatch using sapphire screen, which will encourage more brands or manufacturers to use sapphire in smart wearable devices. Currently, including Huawei, Wellograph other manufacturers have launched smart watches with sapphire screen. With brands for sapphire growth in demand, the industry will move toward healthy development. Looking at the current domestic sapphire market, because last year, many manufacturers capacity expansion, resulting in a sapphire has appeared overcapacity. If the downstream demand growth brands, will consume excess capacity, even pulling new capacity needs.

And, according to LEDinside observation, there are indications that the sapphire market after labor pains are rapidly recovering, at the inflection point of the long term, at the moment is the industry upturn. GTAT failure not only does not mean the end of the sapphire industry, on the contrary, is conducive to the industry and investors in the right direction to further clarify this industry should move forward.

For domestic enterprises, sapphire, due to a larger initial investment, a number of technical breakthroughs in slowly, costs are declining. Thus, the domestic business opportunity is huge. It is understood that there are already blue Synopsys and Bern Optics two domestic companies to enter the Apple sapphire supply system, which supplies Apple Bern about 40% of the sapphire surface, while the blue Synopsys nearly 47 percent of Apple's revenue sources. It can be said that with the pull AppleWatch the upstream brands or sapphire will be widely adopted on smart phones, smart wearable devices and other consumer electronics products, and with the sapphire production capacity gradually released, the market scale will expand rapidly, sapphire industry will also will gradually enter a virtuous development period. (Source: Lei Feng network)

CIOE Xiao Bian said: For sapphire, consumers are not familiar with, but consumers are accustomed to agree with glass, and did not realize this was a material widely used in high-end products will be applied today in the smart phone. However, this era has come true, and the sapphire industry will therefore be rapid development.

According to Yole study reported that non-sapphire substrates used in $ 1 billion in the sapphire industry accounted for 25%. But Sapphire may make the total market in mobile phone applications in 2018, more than three billion US dollars.

In fact, the sapphire material has become so widespread, LED is the most abundant of their fields, and aircraft applications hung window glass more verified the material itself has its advantages.


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