At the end of this month, the project of 3 million LED sapphire substrate materials produced by Guiyang Industrial Investment Co., Ltd. will be officially started, which will launch the first shot of the LED industry chain in Guiyang.

The LED industry belongs to the new light source and new material industry supported by the state, and it is also one of the strengths of the high-tech industry in our city. The relevant person in charge of the city's industrial investment company said that the development of the LED industry in our city has just started, and the landing of the LED substrate material project is undoubtedly a "blockbuster".

This project will break the technological monopoly of foreign companies on large-size sapphire crystals, make up for the domestic gap, form Guiyang's attraction to LED middle and lower reaches, and promote the accumulation of new light source industry in Guiyang.

Small sapphire global market

According to reports, high luminous efficiency, environmental protection, long life and small size make these LEDs the most advanced lighting technology in the world. It is understood that LED lighting equipment is currently used in roads, commercial lighting and liquid crystal display. Among them, in the field of liquid crystal display, the application rate of notebook computers is nearly 100%, and the proportion of LCD TV applications is over 50%. In addition, the expansion of LED in automotive lighting, stage lighting and other application areas, the expansion of market demand has led to an explosive growth trend in the entire LED industry. As a high-growth emerging industry, it is estimated that by 2015, the LED industry will exceed 500 billion yuan.

According to the person in charge of the city's industrial investment company, the LED industry chain is divided into upstream substrate growth, epitaxial wafer manufacturing, midstream chip packaging and downstream application products. Among them, the upstream LED chip and other links concentrate 70% of the output value and profit of the entire industry. . The sapphire crystal substrate is the main material for producing LED chips. It is predicted that in the next five years, the global sapphire market demand will total about 3 billion US dollars, and will maintain a growth rate of more than 45% per year.

In addition, sapphire has high strength, good thermal conductivity, high temperature resistance, abrasion resistance, radiation resistance, etc. It is also an indispensable new material for the defense industry. The annual market demand for military large-size sapphire is about 75 million.

Technology monopolized industry is "locked throat"

The sapphire market has broad prospects, but the current production of large-size sapphire crystal technology is mainly monopolized by Russian and European and American companies. According to statistics, 70% of the world's sapphire substrates are currently supplied by Russian companies, and another 30% are controlled by the United States and Europe. The sapphire substrate manufacturer that has not yet formed industrial production in China.

"Sapphire is an important raw material for making chips, accounting for 10% of the cost of LED chips. After the third quarter of this year, the top two companies in the world with sapphire production have increased their prices, directly affecting the rise in LED chips and packaging prices." Technology Co., Ltd. technical staff said.

Since the production of sapphire substrates has long been monopolized by foreign companies, China's LED epitaxial producers have long been suppressed by foreign companies. The relevant person in charge of the city's industrial investment company told reporters: "Because of tight supply, the world's two major sapphire suppliers have signed long-term strategic alliance agreements with Japanese companies, not only giving priority to the best quality sapphire to Japan, but also in case of shortage of supply Priority is given to supply to Japan. As a result, Taiwan's LED epitaxial wafer manufacturers are directly incapable of producing capacity and quality is lower than Japan, and they cannot compete with Japanese manufacturers in high-end products."

Use "upstream" to attract "downstream"

Due to the long-term dependence of sapphire materials on imports, China's LED industry is at a disadvantage in international competition, and it also seriously restricts the development of China's defense industry. Breaking through the bottleneck of upstream substrate growth technology has become the only way to promote the development of LED industry in China.

"In this context, if Guiyang can mass produce large-size sapphire substrate materials, it will enhance the competitiveness of Guiyang, attract Taiwan's epitaxial wafer manufacturers to invest in Guiyang, and eventually form Guiyang's LED industry chain." The relevant person in charge of the Municipal Industrial Investment Corporation said: "If we can form a supply of sapphire substrates with an annual output value of 500 million yuan, it will theoretically form a blue LED chip production capacity of about 15 billion yuan per year, and an LED industry with an output value of more than 100 billion yuan. chain."

It is reported that Guiyang LED sapphire substrate material project invested 350 million yuan in the first phase, and after production, it will produce 3 million pieces of artificial sapphire for LED, which can realize an output value of 300 million yuan. It is estimated that after five years of construction, the project will eventually form an annual output of 25 million LED sapphire, achieving an output value of 2.5 billion yuan, reaching the international leading level.

Technically, the municipal industrial investment company will introduce Yuanliang Technology's patented technology and equipment to produce large-size sapphire, breaking through the bottleneck of the original domestic sapphire crystal production size can not be too large, too long. At the same time, the project will use Guizhou's low-cost power resources to reduce costs and form a strong market competitiveness.