The sapphire industry made twists and turns in 2014

In recent years, as the semiconductor lighting industry has entered a new boom cycle, the sapphire industry has also been rising, with constant news hot spots. While the demand for sapphire has grown significantly, prices have been experiencing constant fluctuations. Later, stimulated by the news that Apple will use sapphire on a large scale, following LED substrates, consumer electronics applications such as smartphones are creating new application markets for sapphire, and the sapphire industry has ushered in a new wave of investment boom.

In September 2014, at Apple’s press conference, Apple failed to use sapphire screens as expected, causing an earthquake in the sapphire industry, which directly led to the bankruptcy of GTAT, the initial largest beneficiary. It also caused the stock prices of domestic sapphire-related listed companies to fall, and the sapphire industry seemed to have entered a trough. However, in the long run, this is not always the case. According to incomplete statistics from CSA Research, more than 70% of the products produced by my country's sapphire companies are currently used as LED substrates. The rapid development of the LED industry and applications has provided huge demand for sapphire. As of now, there are more than 40 companies engaged in sapphire-related business in my country, of which nearly 20 companies can provide sapphire mass production products, which are distributed in sapphire ingot growth, cutting and polishing, substrate patterning and crystal growth equipment. Some of these companies have also successfully landed in the capital market and gained more competitive advantages in the sapphire market.

In the short term, the sapphire industry has suffered a certain impact, but this does not mean that the sapphire industry has begun to decline. Shock and fluctuation are the only way for industrial development. After the pain, there will be adjustments to the industry structure and improvements in technology.