Market demand and development space to open the sapphire

After the madness 2010-2011 expansion, the sapphire material industry then experienced a serious oversupply of capacity brought low tide, sapphire material prices also continue to continue to decline, two-inch flat substrates from 2012 when more than 30-year highs high dollar has fallen nearly 7 dollars historic lows. 2013, both the international giants, or engaged in domestic Sapphire Dan Changjing and substrate processing enterprises, to hand over the transcripts can be said to be gloomy, most enterprises at a loss, only a small part of the business to achieve profit.

With the strong growth of LED general lighting market, LED upstream manufacturing capacity utilization also continue to climb, with the first half of 2014, global LED manufacturers basically at full production capacity of the state, the domestic LED epitaxial chip companies such as three-tier security Optoelectronics, are also in full production status. According to SEMI China forthcoming & ldquo; upstream Chinese LED manufacturing report 2014 & rdquo; show that in 2014 China LED manufacturing capacity upstream rate is expected to reach nearly 90% (excluding discontinued manufacturers), for sapphire substrate demand will continue to rise . Although the growing demand for sapphire substrates, but LED chip prices continue downward, LED epitaxial silicon class of customers is more difficult to accept price increases demand.

Sapphire ingot prices despite the rise in recent months, but long grain between domestic companies due to differences in product yield, technical route, regional energy costs, the profitability of the application structure has also been caused by differentiation, whole grain companies currently long profitability is still limited. On the other hand, due to the crystal rod prices, making sapphire flat sheet processing in business costs go up so the current level of sapphire substrates almost still no money or even losses. The sapphire substrate manufacturing sector in the PSS (patterned sapphire substrate, Patterned Sapphire Substrate) due to the current market, there is a certain supply gap and can maintain high profits. Overall, in the LED chip prices continue to trend lower, sapphire bottom nor to the state out of stock, so the limited space of the short-term price sapphire substrate, in the medium term, due to the LED industry boom to rise, with sapphire materials continue to expand in other application areas, the sapphire substrate demand will continue to rise, but whether it will remains to be seen price increases and space.

Compared with a glass material, a sapphire material having a high hardness, scratch resistance and other characteristics. Although the luxury mobile phone brand VERTU long sapphire material as its mobile phone display cover material, but never like Apple caused so much concern. Since Apple iPhone5 2012 on the first import of sapphire material as the camera lens cover has constantly raised market concerns, followed by sapphire material used in the iPhone5S is also extended to the Home key. While industry speculation sapphire material at Apple products where an application will, when in November 2013, a very special Advanced Technologies (GTAT) today announced that it has signed a multi-year period with apples, worth $ 578 million senior sapphire material supply agreement, including Apple plans in Arizona designed to build a content processing sapphire material production plant. This news was disclosed, causing great concern to the industry and lively discussion, although there is still the view that, due to the yield, productivity, technology and other reasons, may not all use the phone on iPhone6 ​​sapphire material as the display cover materials, but Apple the sapphire material applications continue to expand into the next generation devices such as the iPhone and iWatch will be inevitable. It is reported that, GTAT Arizona sapphire plant has installed more than 2,000 seats crystal growth furnace, and Apple's suppliers in China Bern Optics, blue Synopsys has also begun processing 4.7-inch, 5.5-inch iPhone sapphire display cover.

Apple's mobile phone industry as a benchmark for companies, their every move has affected the business industry trend and its supply chain. According to SEMI China survey, whether it is Samsung, LG or Huawei, millet, vivo, Cool, and many other domestic and foreign mobile phone manufacturers have started showing interest in sapphire material, some manufacturers have begun to test small quantities, in the future there will be more more mobile phone manufacturers to use sapphire material added to the camp in the past. 2013, the global smart phone shipments reached 1 billion, and is still rapidly growing, global smart phone shipments in 2014 amounted to 280 million in the first quarter, the top five smartphone vendors shipped a total of approximately 167 million Ministry of sapphire material if the future can continue to import other smart phone manufacturers except Apple, the market will be very huge room for growth.
In addition to smartphones, the future wearable device (WD, Wearable Device) will also become an important application of sapphire material market. Apple only an example, if iWatch can achieve 50 million sales in 2015, for example, only iWatch one can consume about 23 million two-inch sapphire substrate rather (TIE) usage. Therefore, we expect total global consumption Sapphire Sapphire Material years from 2013 to about 60 million to 450 million TIE TIE increase the amount of 2016, including smart phones, wearable devices will be the most important part of the increase, future 5 years sapphire material market is expected to grow over 10 times.

SEMI China has committed to build China's industrial platform to sapphire material, for example, currently SEMICON China LED area brings together many of the world's leading manufacturers of sapphire material and its various process equipment and materials manufacturers need, including Monocrystal, Yunnan Blue crystal, Guizhou Haotian Optoelectronics, Nanjing, Beijing Jing, East Crystal Electronic, Yuan Liang technology, crystal-liter energy, Juropol, Crystal Sense, Kemet, Speedfam, the first well-known companies such as Proton optoelectronic products, including ingot, substrate, PSS , crystal growth furnace, cutting and grinding and polishing equipment and diamond wire, polishing fluid, DPM, providing one-stop solutions. In addition, the area is not only involved in the field of LED sapphire substrate material also used in mobile electronic devices to show sapphire window material, due to the adjacent SEMI China's FPD China touch screen area, LED manufacturing industry in attracting attention but also attract a large number of mobile electronic device displays a high degree of attention to those areas. In addition, SEMI China in May 2014 to explore the establishment of international standards for materials, sapphire Professional Committee, which brings together leading manufacturers and experts at home and abroad to jointly promote the development of international standards sapphire material.


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