In 2013, the prices of sapphire substrates were low and sluggish. The sapphire group (substrate, crystal rod) manufacturers in Taiwan, including Yuefeng, Zhaoyuan, and Xinjing, also suffered losses in the first three quarters of 2013.

However, looking forward to this year, sapphire substrate manufacturers observe that currently the production capacity of Taiwan's peers is generally full, and despite the fact that the price of sapphire substrates for LED applications has not yet been significantly increased, consumer electronics (such as smart phones) are The sapphire substrate has created a new seaport. Under the situation where the overall production capacity is relatively tight, LED and non-LED applications will inevitably produce a capacity-building “see-saw effect”. This situation will also be beneficial to the rise in the price of sapphire substrates. The industry is optimistic that after the Lunar New Year this year, the shortage of sapphire substrates will begin to ferment.

In terms of recent price movements of sapphire products, industry sources revealed that most of the last year, no matter if it was a crystal or substrate, it was in a state of declining prices. However, the price of crystal rods has been slightly increased, and the manufacturers of substrates are just about to raise prices. It is understood that the current 4-inch sapphire substrate single chip prices start at about 30 US dollars, patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) 4-inch single-chip prices are more than 50 US dollars; As for 2-inch sapphire substrate, the current single-chip price is about more than 7 The US dollar, 2-inch PSS single chip price is about 12~13 dollars.

Sapphire substrate manufacturers pointed out that, looking forward to this year, the demand for LED lighting customers will be better than last year, and the adoption of sapphire substrates by consumer electronics products is also more active, so this year, whether it is LED or non-LED applications, the demand will be more than last year optimism. Even though the price of sapphire substrates used for LEDs has not yet significantly increased, the surge in demand for consumer electronics products will also be pushed out to the sapphire substrate production capacity required by LEDs, so once LED customers feel the required production capacity is threatened, The price increase will be imperative.

It is worth noting that the global sapphire industry, led by South Korea's sapphire crystal giant STC, has been cautious in expanding production due to a long industrial downturn. In recent years, there have been no large-scale expansion operations. It can be imagined that emerging applications in consumer electronics, optics, semiconductors and other fields have emerged, and all have to come up with the LED industry to grab capacity, the supply and demand of the sapphire industry will be relatively tight, and therefore sapphire substrate manufacturers are more optimistic about the price this year.

 Looking into the non-LED market, the demand for sapphire substrates is the highest among hand-held applications. In addition to Apple’s introduction of sapphire materials into iPhone camera protection lenses and Home Button applications, LG will also introduce sapphire camera protection lenses into the latest product, the LG G2, which is expected to drive The adoption rate of high-end smart phones by relevant mobile phone operators.

In addition, regarding the shift of the size of the sapphire substrate, the industry pointed out that the shipment of sapphire substrates for LED applications is currently still 2 inches as the mainstream, and 2 inches: the shipping proportion of non-two inches in the LED industry as a whole is approximately 80 in 2013. :20, but this year (2014) is expected to gradually increase the proportion of 4-inch shipments, the industry is optimistic about the 2-inch: non-2-inch sapphire substrate shipments, is expected to change to 70:30 or even 60:40.