[Source: Gaogong LED 's " LED Research Review" magazine April issue reporter / Zhao Hui]

"One side is the extrusion of foreign giants such as GT and ARC, and the other side is the overcapacity of domestic sapphire substrates, the demand is not strong, and the prices are falling all the way. The domestic crystal growth furnace manufacturers are now seeking survival and development in the cracks." A person in charge of a sapphire crystal growth furnace told the reporter of "High-tech LED".

“As of now, the company’s sapphire crystal growth furnace has sold dozens of units.” This is the answer given by Tianlong Optoelectronics (SZ.300029) on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange investor relations interactive platform.

According to the latest report released by the High-tech LED Industry Research Institute (GLII), the output value of China's mainland chips in 2012 was about 7.2 billion yuan, the average price dropped by about 32% year-on-year, and some products fell by as much as 50%.

According to GLII data, the number of possessions in mainland China increased from 803 in 2011 to 917 in 2012, but the capacity utilization rate is only about 30%, and the operating rate is only about 50%.

The ultra-low capacity utilization rate directly led to the downturn in sales of the upstream sapphire substrate and sapphire crystal growth furnace enterprises, and the price also went down. At present, the market price of 2-inch sapphire substrates has reached the cost line of US$7 and US$8, and Taiwanese and Japanese and Korean manufacturers have shouted a “jumping price” of US$6.

Sapphire overcapacity

In October 2012, Nanjing High-precision Transmission Equipment Manufacturing Group Co., Ltd. started the foundation of the high-brightness LED sapphire substrate project. The first phase of the project has a fixed asset investment of 1 billion yuan. The construction scale is not less than 160 sapphire crystal growth furnaces, which will be produced within two years.

Crystal Optoelectronics (SZ.002273) annual report shows that the company began investing in LED sapphire substrate project at the end of 2010. At present, it has formed a monthly production capacity of 200,000 sapphire film and 50,000 pieces of sapphire PSS.

The LED sapphire substrate industrialization project of Fujian Jingan Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. under the Sanan Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. in Anxi County has also started mass production recently. The total investment of the first phase of the project is 2.538 billion yuan, and the construction period is 3 years. The project introduces 410 sets of crystal growth furnaces and other related process equipment, and the designed annual production capacity is 12 million sapphire substrates.

Established in November 2010, Guizhou Haotian Optoelectronics plans to fully build up its production at the end of 2014. Upon completion, it will form an annual production capacity of 30 million LED sapphire substrate materials.

Just this month, another listed company Tiantong (SH.600330) reviewed and approved the “Proposal on the company’s non-public offering of shares to specific targets”. The company plans to invest 1.15 million pieces per year through additional issuance. LED sapphire substrate material technical transformation project and supplementary liquidity.

According to GLII statistics, the number of newly added LED sapphire crystal growth and substrate projects reached 26 in 2011, and the number of new projects at the end of the third quarter of 2012 was 14. At present, the capacity of the sapphire crystal growth project in China is about 100 million sapphire substrates, and the actual market demand is only over 10 million. Some of the extension companies are using imported products, so the domestic sapphire substrate is overcapacity.

“Now the sapphire substrate has a serious overcapacity and the price is low. Many companies have slowed down the progress of investment expansion, which directly affects the sales of the crystal growth furnace.” When asked about the sales situation last year, the above crystal growth furnace The person in charge of the company said.

“There are more customers signing long orders, and the supply and demand situation has improved.” Guo Yuebo, director of Tiantong’s stock market, said that since the beginning of the year, orders have improved and customer orders have increased. Sales and prices are expected to rise in the next three months. According to industry insiders, the price of the sluggish sapphire substrate has caused many companies to lose money now. They are hoping that the capacity utilization rate of the epitaxial chip factory will increase this year, driving the sales and price of sapphire substrates to rebound. But how long this year's good start can last is an unknown question.

Domestic and import dispute

At present, the manufacturing technology of sapphire crystal growth equipment is mainly controlled by the United States, Russia, Ukraine and other countries.

Before 2010, the world's major sapphire crystal giants basically made their own crystal furnaces, a few companies purchased Russian or Ukrainian equipment, and Japanese equipment was basically only for the local market.

Therefore, the choice of imported equipment is not large, which also provides an excellent market space for domestic crystal growth furnace enterprises.

In the L ED investment boom that began in 2009, epitaxial chip companies have expanded their production. A large number of ordering machines directly drove the demand for sapphire substrates and extended to upstream equipment. The sapphire crystal growth furnace market has also begun to heat up. Many companies have started growing crystals. Development and production of the furnace.

GLII statistics show that there are currently only 17 companies involved in R&D and production of crystal growth furnaces in China.

It is understood that the price of domestic long crystal equipment is generally 30% lower than imported equipment, and some even differ by nearly half. Zhang Xiangxin, director of the domestic business unit of Suzhou Haibo Crystal, said that the price of the 80kg-class imported crystal growth furnace used by them is more than 3 million yuan, while the domestically produced crystal growth furnace of the same size has only more than 2 million yuan.

According to industry insiders, the current domestic crystal growth furnace has matured in small-size technology and can stably produce sapphire crystals. However, the crystal growth furnace exceeding 85 kg has yet to be further verified by the market.

At present, there are quite a few sapphire substrate companies on the market to develop their own crystal growth furnaces. Several domestic manufacturers that have already produced sapphire substrates, including Silian Optoelectronics, Yunnan Lanjing and Tiantong, are designed or integrated by themselves. Design and manufacture of crystal growth furnaces.

"The qualification rate of domestically grown crystal furnaces is not high, and the output of crystals is relatively small in kilograms, and it is not cost-effective considering the cost." Fan Zhiyuan, manager of the crystal crystal business group of Tiantong, said that "High-tech LED "Reporter, domestic crystal growth furnaces are not paying enough attention to the cost of long crystals, and there is still room for improvement in quality assurance and crystal growth.

Domestic equipment breakout

“Our 85kg grade crystal growth furnace has been sold a lot, and probably sold dozens of units last year.” Li Hui, general manager of Nanjing Jingsheng Energy Equipment Co., Ltd. told Gaogong LED reporter, 120kg grade crystal growth furnace It didn't come out to the market because it was mainly aimed at the 4-inch and 6-inch markets, while the domestic 85% of the epitaxial capacity was concentrated on 2 inches.

Another domestic crystal growth furnace manufacturer, Fufeng New Energy, launched the ISS7510 sapphire crystal growth furnace (80 kg grade) in March 2012 after launching the ISS 3520 sapphire crystal growth equipment (35 kg grade) in 2010. It is understood that Fufeng New Energy is carrying out research and development work on kilogram and 120kg sapphire crystal furnaces, which will soon be introduced to the market.

According to industry insiders, a long crystal furnace has a long cycle from installation and trial production to mass production. If you want to mass production, it usually takes more than 9 months. It is not a device that can be mass-produced very quickly, and its process requirements are high.

Li Hui said that a good sapphire crystal growth furnace should do three things, the first must be safe; the second must be industrialized, not a device must be a mature engineer or very experienced person, this can not be achieved Industrialization; the third must have a combined use of the lowest cost. Only with the above three conditions can we adapt to the needs of the market.

In the face of overcapacity of sapphire, the price is close to the downstream market environment of the cost line. If the domestic sapphire crystal growth furnace breaks out in the fierce market competition, it must be “large size, large kilogram, high quality, low energy consumption and low labor”. Efforts are required to overwhelm foreign brands in terms of technical stability and cost-price advantages.

Since Shenzhen Crystal Lande Lighting Co., Ltd. announced the successful trial of sapphire crystal growth furnace equipment in 2011, its self-developed 85 kg sapphire substrate furnace has entered the stability test period in June 2012. "Our goal is to produce a long crystal furnace with high yield and can be truly commercialized." Liu Shiquan, chairman of Jing Lande, said that the company's large-size sapphire crystal growth furnace should be able to produce more than 100 in the second half of the year. Kilogram of crystals.

With the increase in capacity utilization of LED upstream epitaxial chip factories and the promotion of sapphire materials in mobile phones and other fields, industry insiders said that domestic sapphire substrate materials are expected to increase in volume this year, thus driving the sales of domestic crystal growth furnaces.

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August 29, 2024