Abstract Sapphire was once abandoned by Apple's iPhone6 ​​and is now being reused by AppleWatch, which may bring the new sapphire industry into a troubled sapphire industry. With the power of AppleWatch, Sapphire once again launched a large-scale entry into consumption...
Sapphire was once abandoned by Apple's iPhone6, but now it is reused by Apple Watch, which may make the once-difficult sapphire industry usher in a new machine. With the power of the Apple Watch, Sapphire once again launched a wide-ranging offensive into the consumer electronics arena. The demand for traditional sapphire market is very small
It is understood that sapphire is a kind of corundum gemstone, which was first widely used in some luxury and luxury watches. The application of artificial sapphire in the industrial field mainly includes the LED industry and the consumer electronics industry, and the application in the LED industry is a relatively traditional market for sapphire.
In the past, the traditional sapphire industry mainly included the window market and the LED sapphire substrate market, in which the window market was biased towards customization and the price elasticity was small. The substrate market accounts for more than 70% of the demand for the entire traditional sapphire market, but the substrate market depends on the demand for LED downstream epitaxial wafers. If the downstream demand is good, even the substrate price increase extension manufacturers can easily absorb the cost. Conversely, if downstream demand is not good, even if the substrate is cut in half price, it will not stimulate more demand.
Therefore, on the whole, the demand elasticity of the traditional sapphire market is generally small. However, sapphire later found a new way out in the consumer electronics market.
Sapphire and consumer electronics products
Since Apple introduced the sapphire into the lens cover in the iPhone 5, and then used the sapphire for the home button on the iPhone 5S, the sapphire has a deep "fat" with the technology electronics.
However, this "fate" has become extremely tortuous with the changes in Apple's product planning, and finally evolved into a deep "sacrifice".
The sapphire concept was hit hard at the top of the technology industry. At the end of 2013, GTAT signed a $576 million sapphire supply agreement with Apple. And, at the time, there were rumors that the iPhone 6 would give up Corning Gorilla Glass and use a sapphire screen. This action of Apple set off a boom in the domestic sapphire industry. At that time, the A-share market even created some big sapphire concepts.
But then Apple released the iPhone6 ​​and iPhone6Plus did not use the sapphire screen, which also led to GTAT directly declared bankruptcy. This poured a "cold water" on the entire "hot gas" sapphire industry. At that time, many sapphire companies fell into losses and even went bankrupt. For a time, the "slumping theory" of the sapphire industry was rampant.
Abandoned by the iPhone6, it became the darling of Apple Watch
It is understood that Apple decided not to use sapphire as a mobile phone screen, because sapphire is more fragile than Corning glass, and because the sapphire manufacturing process is more difficult than the market, the cost has increased accordingly.
However, the iPhone6's abandonment of the sapphire screen does not mean that Apple is not optimistic about sapphire.
After the termination of cooperation with GTAT, some foreign technology media have been exposed: Apple is still carrying out sapphire patent reserves. According to relevant sources, in February of this year, Apple was approved a new patent for sapphire display. In this patent document, Apple describes in detail a variety of methods for applying sapphire crystals to electronic devices, such as covering iPhone camera lenses with sapphire glass or covering the entire smartphone and smart watch screen.
And, at the time, Apple did not use sapphire on a large scale on the iPhone. Now, Apple is widely used on AppleWatch. According to Apple's official display, Apple Watch has a total of 38 versions, of which 20 of the standard Watch series and 8 of the Edition series are equipped with sapphire screens, and all Apple Watch back shells are equipped with four sapphire lenses.
Insiders believe that the Apple Watch's use of sapphire screens will greatly increase the demand for the sapphire market. According to DigiTimes analysis, Apple Watch's purchase of sapphire will exceed 18% of global sapphire production.
Apple Watch is a rocker, upstream brands are driving demand
Affected by Apple Watch, the sapphire industry chain has also begun to show signs of warming. After the release of Apple Watch, domestic and Taiwan sapphire-related stocks have seen significant gains.
And with the Apple Watch using a sapphire screen, this may prompt more brand makers to use sapphire on smart wearables. At present, manufacturers including Huawei and Wellograph have launched smart watches equipped with sapphire screens. As the demand for sapphire from brand manufacturers grows, the entire industry will also move towards benign development. Looking at the current domestic sapphire market, due to the expansion of capacity of many manufacturers last year, sapphire has been overcapacity. If the demand of downstream brands grows, it will consume excess capacity and even drive new capacity demand.
Moreover, according to the observations of industry organizations, there are signs that the sapphire market is recovering rapidly after the pain. In the long run, it is now the turning point of the industry improvement. The failure of GTAT not only does not represent the end of the sapphire industry, but rather helps the industry and investors to further clarify the correct direction in which the industry should move forward.
For domestic sapphire enterprises, due to the large investment in the early stage, some technologies are slowly breaking through, and the cost is gradually decreasing. Therefore, domestic enterprises have huge opportunities. It is understood that there are already two domestic companies, Lansi Technology and Berne Optics, which have entered the apple sapphire supply system. Among them, Bern supplies about 40% of the sapphire surface of Apple, while nearly 47% of Lansi Technology's revenue comes from Apple. It can be said that with the pull of AppleWatch, upstream brands will probably adopt sapphire on consumer electronics such as smart phones and smart wearable devices. As the production capacity of sapphire is gradually released, the market scale will also expand rapidly, and the sapphire industry will also Will gradually enter a period of benign development.
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