Demand for sapphire substrates for LED lighting is expected to continue to rise

Sapphire Substrate for LED lighting accounts for more than 90% of sapphire substrate applications. Judging from the current application structure of sapphire, about 80 is currently applied to sapphire substrates and about 20 is applied to non-substrate materials, of which sapphire is mainly used as substrates for LED lighting and SOS related products, among them, the proportion of substrate materials used for LED is more than 90%, so the influence of LED on sapphire substrate demand is direct and important. LED demand rebounded, driving demand for sapphire. Due to the sluggish economic environment in 2012, the demand for LED lighting was not as good as expected, resulting in a significant decline in the utilization rate of upstream MOCVD equipment. According to statistics from relevant agencies, the utilization rate of MOCVD equipment in 2012 was only 59, while that in mainland China was only 42, as a result, demand for sapphire substrates increased significantly below expectations. At the same time, due to the successive release of new production capacity of sapphire, the relationship between supply and demand continues to deteriorate, the proportion of demand and supply is only 66, and the price of Sapphire has been falling all the way; In 2013, with the acceleration of LED direct backlight penetration and the sharp increase in LED lighting demand, the utilization rate of MOCVD equipment was stimulated to 74 (Mainland China 63) , Driving the demand for sapphire substrates to rise, the proportion of demand and supply gradually improved, the demand increased from 57. 13 million pieces/year in 2012 to 83 million pieces/year (Equivalent to 2 inch calculation) The demand-supply ratio is 80, which is the main reason for the rebound in sapphire prices. Demand for LED continues to rise in 2014, and demand for sapphire is expected to continue to rise. Looking forward to 2014, LED lighting products continue to cut prices, and the prices of some products are equivalent to those of energy-saving lamps, stimulating the demand for LED lighting to accelerate; At the same time, in terms of policy, incandescent lamps will be banned in 2014. New standards in EU, Japan and other regions have been implemented with H1 in 2013. Relevant standards in other regions are expected to be introduced around the end of the year, it will further promote the penetration of LED lighting demand and is expected to continue to drive the demand for sapphire substrate materials to rise. We expect the demand-supply ratio of sapphire to further increase to 91 in 2014, and the supply-demand relationship is expected to improve significantly. Iphone application or open Sapphire New Application Road. If the new Apple variety in 2014 uses sapphire to protect the screen, suppose 2014-Sales in 2015 were 40 million, 1. 0. 2 billion, which will drive the new demand for Sapphire by 97. 14 million pieces/year and 291. 42 million pieces/year (Equivalent to 2 inch calculation) In 2014, it is almost equivalent to the number of integrated LED sapphire substrates. In 2015, it will be twice the demand for LED sapphire substrates. According to this calculation, the market size of sapphire is expected to grow by more than 5 times.