- Prices for 4" sapphire wafers, 6" sapphire ingots, and patterned sapphire substrates (PSS) fell ~30% Y/Y in September, TrendForce reports. 4" sapphire ingot prices fell ~45%.
- Taking a toll: The migration of LED chipmakes - including major Chinese manufacturers such as San'an Opto, Elec-Tech, and Changelight - from 2" to 4" wafers, which has fueled a 20%-30% increase in industry capacity.
- Sapphire wafer/PSS maker Rubicon (NASDAQ:RBCN) has been posting negative gross margins for some time, and has forecast Q3 sales will also be soft. Meanwhile, CREE has seen sales of its silicon carbide-based LED chips pressured by aggressive price competition from Chinese rivals relying on sapphire. Last year, the company invested in and struck a supply deal with sapphire LED chipmaker Lextar to strengthen its position in the mid-power LED market.