Taiwanese patterned sapphire substrates (PSS) manufacturers have expanded their capacities much more aggressively than their Chinese rivals in recent months amid rising demand from LED companies, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said last week.
PSS are typically used to manufacture LEDs. The components have been proved to be effective in increasing light extraction efficiency and the crystal quality of gallium nitride-based LEDs.
The Taipei-based researcher said Taiwanese companies’ capacities for 2-inch PSS last quarter reached 2.19 million units per month and are estimated to grow 20.1 percent to 2.63 million units per month this quarter.
The figure is likely to increase by another 35 percent to 3.55 million units per month next quarter, and 20.3 percent to 4.27 million units per month during the fourth quarter of the year, TrendForce said in a report released on Friday.
“Many PSS manufacturers have increased their capacities this year, and because demand for 4-inch PSS is exceptionally strong, a number of the firms have decided to apply their additional capacities to making 4-inch PPS,” Jessie Lin (林芬卉) said in the report.
Rigidtech Microelectronics Corp (銳捷) and Crystalwise Technology Inc (兆遠) are the nation’s top two PSS producers. Their Chinese rivals include Crystaland Co (雲南藍晶), Jiangsu Jeshine New Material Co (江蘇吉星), Nanjing J-Crystal Photoelectric Science & Technology Co (南京京晶) and Zhejiang Shangcheng Science & Technology Co (浙江上城).
Rigitech, based in Taoyuan County’s Gueishan Township (龜山), started mass production of 4-inch PSS this year. Sales of 2 inch and 4 inch PSS accounted for 98 percent of the company’s total sales of NT$552.14 million (US$18.39 million) last quarter.
The company counts Taiwan’s LED chipmakers Epistar Corp (晶電), Formosa Epitaxy Inc (璨圓) and their Chinese peer Elec-Tech International Co (德豪) as major clients.
Crsytalwise, headquartered in Hsinchu County’s Baoshan Township (寶山), also supplies PSS to Epistar. Thanks to growing demand for PSS, Crystalwise’s first-quarter sales expanded 46.6 percent to a record high of NT$611 million.
Lin said total capacities for 4-inch PSS by both Taiwanese and Chinese manufacturers were estimated at 332,000 units per month last quarter, which fell short of the market demand of 462,000 units per month. Capacities are forecast to reach 544,000 units per month next quarter, still less than the market demand of 579,000 units per month.
Due to the increased cost of the sapphire ingot used to make sapphire substrates, the price of 4-inch PSS is estimated to surge 7.8 percent to US$55 in the October-to-December quarter from US$51 last quarter, according to research house Digitimes Research.
The price of 2-inch PSS is projected to grow 4 percent to US$13 during the fourth quarter from last quarter’s US$12.5, Digitimes said.
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) suffered its biggest stock decline in more than a month after the company unveiled new artificial intelligence (AI) chips, but did not provide hoped-for information on customers or financial performance. The stock slid 4 percent to US$164.18 on Thursday, the biggest single-day drop since Sept. 3. Shares of the company remain up 11 percent this year. AMD has emerged as the biggest contender to Nvidia Corp in the lucrative market of AI processors. The company’s latest chips would exceed some capabilities of its rival, AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) said at an event hosted by
TECH JUGGERNAUT: TSMC shares have more than doubled since ChatGPT’s launch in late 2022, as demand for cutting-edge artificial intelligence chips remains high Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday posted a better-than-expected 39 percent rise in quarterly revenue, assuaging concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) hardware spending is beginning to taper off. The main chipmaker for Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc reported third-quarter sales of NT$759.69 billion (US$23.6 billion), compared with the average analyst projection of NT$748 billion. For last month alone, TSMC reported revenue jumped 39.6 percent year-on-year to NT$251.87 billion. Taiwan’s largest company is to disclose its full third-quarter earnings on Thursday next week and update its outlook. Hsinchu-based TSMC produces the cutting-edge chips needed to train AI. The company now makes more
NEXT GENERATION: The new 3-nanometer chip has 28 percent more transistors and offers up to 80 percent faster language model performance than its predecessor MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Wednesday launched a new flagship smartphone chip, Dimensity 9400, made with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) enhanced 3-nanometer technology, aiming to bring more artificial intelligence (AI) applications to edge devices like phones. The Dimensity 9400 is the second smartphone chip using TSMC’s second-generation 3-nanometer technology, after Apple Inc’s A18 Pro chip for the new iPhone 16 series. The new mobile chip has 28 percent more transistors, offers up to 80 percent faster large language model performance and is up to 35 percent more power-efficient than its predecessor, Dimensity 9300, MediaTek said. Chinese smartphone makers Xiaomi Corp (小米),
RSS