SEMI releases China LED fab industry report

SHANGHAI, CHINA & SAN JOSE, USA: SEMI has announced the release of a new report, The China LED Fab Industry Report, which provides a comprehensive summary on the rapidly-growing China LED industry, including the latest data on capital and equipment spending, fab capacity, sales rankings of Chinese LED manufacturers, and other valuable information.

The report also includes an update on the subsidy incentives for China fab projects, an update on new LED fab projects, an overview of Chinese sapphire wafer suppliers, and company profiles of the leading Chinese manufacturers.

Recognizing the long-term potential of solid state lighting and high-brightness LEDs, the Chinese government has supported both demand and supply sectors of the industry, estimated by some analysts to grow from approximately $10 billion in 2010 to over $100 billion worldwide by 2020.

In recent years, China and various local governments have adopted a series of industrial planning policies and incentives to promote the development of solid state lighting. China has become the world’s leading consumer of solid state lighting and the leading producer of LCD TVs, today’s leading demand driver of high-brightness LEDs.

In response to these market developments, LED production investments have rapidly escalated. From 2010 to 2012, the report forecasts GaN epitaxial wafer production capacity will grow over 300 percent to 1,282,000 wafers per month (2-inch equivalents) with MOCVD tool installations growing from a cumulative total 323 tools in 2010 to over 1000 tools by the end 2012. Capitalizing on this growth, 10 new sapphire substrate projects (a market currently dominated by non-Chinese suppliers) have been announced.