It is reported that demand for sapphire ingot becomes larger, even its demand exceeds supply, therefore its price soared in June, the average price rose from $ 3 per millimeter (mm) to $ 3.8 per mm, an growth of 20% just in a few weeks.
The main applications of sapphire ingot are in the LED backlight and lighting over the past years, however, the TV market is bad, which causes that the overall demand for related LED supply chain is not strong; due to the good transmission of sapphire material, and scratch-resistant, wear-resistant, American smart phone manufacturers integrated sapphire material into the phone lens glass, but also triggered a wave of follow-up, so that major phone manufacturers in Mainland China and even non-brand phone makers fully underway.
When the sapphire is used for more applications, there is rumor that the price of sapphire ingot increased by 20% in Q3. The current status is that price of sapphire ingot continues to rise, while substrate plant cannot change the price. Analysis of the industry said that due to the poor demand for TV and backlight, the demand of LED manufacturers for substrate is not urgent; particularly, the sapphire material used in mobile phones can be ordered directly from Sapphire Ingot plants, without going through the precision and professional cut by slicing factory, which leads that sapphire ingot is out of stock.
