Abstract
TOTAL SAPPHIRE MARKET FOR SUBSTRATES TO EXCEED $200 IN 2010
Sapphire product is serving mainly 2 applications in the electronics field:
GaNbased LED and RF devices, both for mobile phones (Silicon-on-Sapphire "SoS"
technology). The sapphire substrate market for electronic applications has
reached a market volume of approximately 9 million wafers (2" equivalent) for
LED augmented by some 10' s of thousands 6" and 8" wafers for SoS RF
applications in 2009.
Despite the 2009 economic situation and thanks mostly to LCE LED backlight
applications, the c-plan sapphire wafer market grew +4% over 2009 compared to
2008 in the LED segment. On the other hand, r-plan sapphire business for SoS
applications has been strongly affected by the recession as the main
application markets are related to consumer appliances (mainly mobile phones).
As a result, a -55% revenue decline has been observed on the r-plan side.
2"SAPPHIRE PRICE AS LOW AS EVER BUT SHORTAGE RISK COULD GENERATE TURBULENCE
The price pressure on 2" remains critical and our models showed that most of
the suppliers are having a very tiny margin on that material and some of them
are even losing money in that business. The 2" price level, especially in
Taiwan, was extremely low and the psychological $10 threshold has probably
been reached. We' re forecasting a ~ 5% price increase across the board.
However, just like for cores, it will be unevenly distributed through the
different diameters, with 2" price to increase up to 40% in 2010 while, on the
other hand, we expect 3" and 4" price to remain stable compared to their low
of 2009 and actually decrease another 20% compared to their ASP through 2009.
Indeed, our Demand-Capacity analysis shows a "risk-zone" that should occur
during the second half of 2010, where all the planned capacity won' t be fully
installed, facing a demand in LED that can create some turbulence. Now, we
feel comfortable saying that this stress period should end early in 2011 with
the full ramp-up of sapphire producers.
Is 6" saphire economicaly viable for LED?
Year 2009 saw the introduction of first industrial tools running 6" diameter
for LED manufacture. It is still unclear how 6" sapphire can bring a strong
added-value on the LED manufacturing cost as the market price of these
substrates stays very high in comparison to $/ sq. inch costs for 2" and 4"
wafers. We ran our proprietary Sapphire Growth Cost Model tool and found that
only Kyropulos and EFG growth techniques could generate a sub $6/sq. inch
c-plan wafer cost in 6" diameter, which is again very expensive compared to
smaller diameter materials.
JAPAN CAPTURES ALMOST HALF THE BUSINESS
With more than 44% market share, Japanese sapphire producers are again leading
the business in 2009. Kyocera and Namiki are now collecting more than $100M in
sapphire revenues for both substrates and non-substrate (Optical applications)
products. Shinkosha and Sumitomo Metal Mining are also part of the TOP-12
players. In the US, Rubicon has faced a severe downturn on the r-plan segment
as its main client Peregrine has strongly reduced its orders. In Europe,
Monocrystal Plc. remains the number one actor.
This report provides a complete analysis of the 2 main applications targeted
by the sapphire substrates along with key market metrics. It describes the
involvement of the major material suppliers and gives a snapshot of the
sapphire industry playground. The report presents the $ and unit values on the
2006-2013 time scale for the GaNbased LED and SoS-based RF devices and their
equivalence in substrate consumptions and related material market size.
Table of Contents
Glossary
Latest Noteworthy News
Executive Summary
2005-2013 sapphire total market size in M$ and Msi (LED & SoS)
Sapphire substrate market p9
- Introduction
- Main applications of Sapphire-based devices
- Sapphire properties
- Sapphire characteristics by application
- Growth methods for sapphire substrates
- Typical sapphire polished wafer manufacturing cost breakdown
- Map of sapphire suppliers location
- Company business model
- Overview of the company?s products
- Overview Of Non Electronic Applications
- Companies Not Involved in the Substrate Business
- 2009 Total sapphire vendor revenues (Substrate + Others)
- 2009 sapphire vendor revenues breakdown by region
- 2009 sapphire for substrates. Vendor revenues (split ingots + blanks &
epi-ready)
- 2009 sapphire for substrates. Vendor revenues (split by LED vs. SoS)
- 2009 Epi-ready substrates only geographic breakdown: Supply-chain of the
sapphire business
- Patterned Substrates
- Opportunities for Equipment Manufacturers
- Substrate reclaiming
- Zoom On Korea
- Zoom on Taiwan
- Alternative to Sapphire (Si, GaN, ZnO, Glass)
- 6? wafers for LED: when and at what price?
- Sapphire for LED: Diameter Trends
- CREE and Sapphire
- Sapphire Shortage: Risk analysis
- Sapphire wafer diameter roadmap
- Time to market
Sapphire for Nitride LEDs p59
- Market segmentation
- LED Market Volume as a function of LED type
- LED Market Revenues as a function of LED type
- LED regional production capacity
- 2008 LED market shares
- LED manufacturers? position on the value chain.
- LED regional production capacity as of early 2009
- From epi capacity to LED capacity
- Sapphire substrates for LED market price projection split by diameter
- 2005-2013 Sapphire substrates market for LED in volume, by diameter &
related market size
- 2005-2013 Sapphire substrates market for LED in value, split by diameter
- Sapphire substrates consumption for LED
- Regional usage breakdown 2008 and 2009
- Conclusion and perspectives
Silicon-on-Sapphire p80
- Antenna Switch Module (ASM) market
- Latest noteworthy news of SoS industry
- What we saw, what we missed?
- Comparison with 2008 edition
- Comparison of cell-phone antenna switching module (ASM) technologies
- Antenna Switching Module (ASM) market data and main players
- Comparison of Si CMOS vs. SoS UltraCMOSR architectures
- Comparison of main specifications of GaAs vs. SoS antenna switches
- 2005-2013 RF switch technology market breakdown.
- Main data of the SoS UltraCMOSR switch manufacturing process
- 2005-2013 SoS sapphire substrate ASP
- 2005-2013 sapphire substrate market size and volume for SoS applications
- Estimation of 2009 r-plan sapphire wafer orders, split by company
- Conclusion and Outlook
Possible other markets for Sapphire material p93
Company Profiles p98-167
Location contact, business model, overview, employees, capacity, application, products, revenues, growth technology
- ACME Electronics Corporation.
- Alpha Crystal Technology Corp.: ACTC
- Advanced System Technology
- Crystal GmbH
- CrystalQ
- Crystal Systems
- Crystal Wise
- Crystal On
- Epistone
- Exiton
- ILJIN Display Co.
- Jiaozuo City Crystal Photoelectric Material Co., Ltd .
- Juropol
- Kyocera
- M.J Corporation
- Monocrystal PLC, Inc.
- Namiki
- N-Crystals
- Precision Sapphire Technologies
- Rubicon Technology
- Saito Optical Science
- Saifei
- Saint-Gobain Crystals
- San Chih Semiconductor
- Sapphire Technology Co., Ltd
- Sino American Silicon
- Shinkosha
- Silian Sapphire Corporation
- Siltron / LG
- Sumitomo Metal Fine Technology
- Tera Xtal Technology
- Wafer Works
