Affected by the 2020 epidemic LED chip, the market demand for traditional lighting applications is weak. As the market price drops to the bottom and the epidemic is expected to be controlled in 2021, the market has recently spread. As the panel demand is strong, LED backlight chips are also expected to increase slightly.
LED chip manufacturer Jingdian said that the fourth quarter is the traditional off-season of the LED industry. It is expected that the overall terminal market application is expected to restart after the lunar new year in 2021, and the shipment of new products will match the schedule of customers.
It is pointed out that HC Semitek has adjusted the price of LED lighting chips since November, and the increase has fallen to about 6-8%, mainly due to the recent increase in material costs and the continuous increase in labor and wage costs.
JYLED also said recently that the company’s chip prices have recently adjusted upwards. On the one hand, the lighting terminal exports have been delayed due to the epidemic in the first half of the year. Currently, exports are recovering and the Christmas peak season is coming, so demand is increasing; on the other hand, On the one hand, some domestic companies have withdrawn from the market, and some leading companies are also leaving the traditional lighting market, and the supply side is also in a tight situation.
According to TrendForce’s analysis, the reasons for the price increase of LED chips for mid-and low-end products this time include the temporary imbalance between supply and demand, and one of the reasons why the early price is too low, which causes the bottom to rebound in the later period. In addition, benefiting from the recovery of terminal demand. The price of sapphire substrates, which are the raw material for LED chips in consumer electronics, has also risen simultaneously.
However, the overall LED chip market is still in a state of oversupply. Taking into account the recovery of market demand and the completion of the release of new LED chip production capacity, it is estimated that the price of LED chips will temporarily stabilize in the short term, and the profitability of related companies will gradually improve.
As for LED backlighting, while entering the traditional off-season, but the panel all the way to see Wang market conditions in 2021, the Lunar New Year Spring Festival holiday production line will also maintain normal supply. The market has reported that following the rise of lighting chips and the introduction of Mini LED production in high-end applications, LED backlight products will also follow up and are increasingly driven by the overall capacity transfer. However, Jungian said that it does not comment on the rumors of price increases.
The industry pointed out that standard LED lighting chips have fallen to the bottom, and product prices have also fallen to the edge of the coastline, prompting various LED manufacturers to continue to adjust their lighting product line portfolio, including towards emerging applications such as special lighting, plant lighting, factory lighting or ultraviolet LEDs In the field of Mini LED display technology, business opportunities are booming, which has also accelerated the expansion of Mini LED production lines.
Benefiting from brand customers, Mini LEDs will be launched successively in the first half of 2021. Jingdian’s operations are expected to break out of the bottom of the valley in 2021. Recently, the supply chain has also been reported. With its own production capacity fully loaded, TSMC has purchased new Aixtron machines. In the Zhunan plant of Epistar, in the future, Epistar will OEM GaN fast-charging products in the mode of patent authorization.
Apple has recently joined hands more closely with its partner Jingdian. The MiniLED technology jointly developed by the two parties at Apple’s Longtan plant has entered the mass production stage. Due to the smooth cooperation, Apple has decided to continue to work with Jingdian to develop the next generation of Micro LED technology. This also means that next year Apple will launch products equipped with MiniLED.
Jingdian pointed out that MiniLED will be the first to be applied to terminal products such as tablets, laptops, and TVs, and the amount will be quite large from the current customer product development situation. It is estimated that the MiniLED market demand will be fully exploded next year.
In addition, affected by the rising prices of raw materials such as copper, plastic, aluminum, cartons, steel, foam, foam, and glass glue required for LED lighting products, many lighting manufacturers and accessory manufacturers have also issued price increases notices for some products. Make price adjustments.
