Booming Sapphire Substrate Demands Could Lead to Supply Shortage

News Source: 
CTIMES

Apple’s recent interest in sapphire substrate has got the industry talking as to what future Apple product will use the material. Long since used in LED lighting applications and handheld devices, sapphire substrate will soon be the spotlight in the industry once Apple’s Arizona factory is up and running. 

LED lighting market demands have been growing strongly, especially for products including LED bulbs, tubes, and MR16 which continue to drive LED industry development. Leading LED chip manufacturers such as Seoul Viosys, Epistar, San’an Optoelectronics, and HC SemiTek have sped up production capacity expansion. Moreover, manufacturers have increased the number of 4 inch MOCVD units, boosting 4 inch sapphire substrate production from 40 percent in 2013 up to 43 percent in 2014. 

Handheld devices remain the largest driver for non LED market demands. Apart from Apple introducing sapphire substrate into iPhone lens protectors and home button key, LG has also included the material into the lens protector for their new LG G2. Other mobile device manufacturers are likely to follow suit. Non LED market application proportion is expected to reach 36 percent in 2014. LEDinside estimates that handheld device application demands will reach 31 percent. 

Growing LED backlight demands and other factors have led to a global PSS supply shortage. Industry insiders believe that this new wave of sapphire substrate demands will expand into the upstream sector, and affect products such as sapphire ingot. 

Disclaimers of Warranties
1. The website does not warrant the following:
1.1 The services from the website meets your requirement;
1.2 The accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the service;
1.3 The accuracy, reliability of conclusions drawn from using the service;
1.4 The accuracy, completeness, or timeliness, or security of any information that you download from the website
2. The services provided by the website is intended for your reference only. The website shall be not be responsible for investment decisions, damages, or other losses resulting from use of the website or the information contained therein<
Proprietary Rights
You may not reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, display, perform, publish, distribute, disseminate, broadcast or circulate to any third party, any materials contained on the services without the express prior written consent of the website or its legal owner.

Tokushima, Japan - 6 March 2024: Nichia, the world's largest LED manufacturer and inventor of the high-brightness blue and white LED, has started mass production of the new UV-B (308nm) and UV-A (330nm) LEDs in its popular 434 Series packa... READ MORE

New XLamp® S Line LEDs enhance growth, last longer, lower energy costs Horticulture and other forms of agricultural lighting require application-tuned ratios of spectral content, high efficacy and long lifetimes. Whether you are interested... READ MORE