LED enters the 'core Sheng' stage, manufacturers hold a wait-and-see attitude

In the first quarter of this year, the sales of LED lighting manufacturers surged, driving the supply and demand of the LED industry. The decline in upstream chip stocks has also triggered concerns in the industry about chip price increases. However, it is learned from a number of chip manufacturers that these manufacturers currently have no price increase plans, and the release of some capacity in the second half of the year is expected to ease the supply tension. There is no plan to raise the price. Bian Difei, vice president of Huacan Optoelectronics, said that the company does face short-term capacity shortage and tight supply and demand, but will not raise prices. At present, the chips used by domestic LED packaging manufacturers have been gradually localized, mainly supplied by Sanan Optoelectronics, Huacan Optoelectronics, shilanwei and other manufacturers. Domestic LED packaging manufacturers such as jufei optoelectronics and Ruifeng optoelectronics have also increased their purchases of Sanan optoelectronic chips in recent years. Some packaging manufacturers have reported that the current inventory of LED chip manufacturers is not large. If downstream packaging customers do not communicate well in advance, there may be situations where they need to wait for supply. Ruifeng Optoelectronics believes that the price increase of chips is unlikely. At present, the whole LED lighting market is showing a trend of price reduction. The price of upstream LED chips will also slow down in the long run. Due to short-term shortage of supply, it is already very good to maintain a stable price. LED chip manufacturers mainly reduce costs through technological upgrading, thus ensuring their gross profit margin, unlike other industries that increase profits through price increases. In the past, chip manufacturers have tried to raise prices. At about the same time last year, due to the recovery of the European and American markets, there was a shortage of lighting chips. Sanan Optoelectronics raised prices in a timely manner, but soon it was found that the market share had shrunk, and then the original price was recalled. Some industry insiders believe that unless all chip manufacturers unanimously announce price increases, a single manufacturer's price increase will mean giving up market share. On the other hand, the recent shortage of LED chips may not become the norm. At present, manufacturers such as Sanan Optoelectronics and Huacan optoelectronics are actively expanding their production capacity, which will effectively alleviate the current shortage of upstream chips. The recent shareholders' meeting of Huacan Optoelectronics passed the expansion plan for the third phase of the LED epitaxial wafer chip project of Suzhou subsidiary, with an investment of 11. 5%. 8. 4 billion yuan is expected to be put into production by the end of this year, releasing an annual output of 4 inch LED epitaxial wafers 65. 60 thousand pieces, LED chip 262. A production capacity of 0. 4 billion. In addition to the total production capacity of the first and second phases of the base, after the third phase of the project is completed, Huacan Suzhou company will achieve a total annual production capacity of 114. 70 thousand pieces, chip capacity 636. 0. 2 billion. San'an Optoelectronics Wuhu Optoelectronics industrialization (Phase II)The project will also start production in the near future. In addition, the company will also set up a subsidiary in Xiamen to increase LED chip production capacity. The total investment of the project is 10 billion yuan, with a total scale of 200 MOCVD units. The first phase will start 100 units and the construction period will be one year.