Sapphire substrate sales increase in April

May 11, 16:01

Substrate manufacturers such as Crystal Applied Technologies and Wafer Works reported increased revenues during April due to upstream sapphire substrates becoming more in demand as...

SAS may form alliance with Crystalwise

Apr 25, 01:20

Solar wafer maker Sino-American Silicon (SAS) has been considering cooperating with sapphire substrate maker Crystalwise through a merger with its sapphire subsidiary or an alliance...

Sapphire substrate quotes increase

Apr 6, 11:31

Sapphire substrates are continuing to increase in price and some suppliers have raised their April quotes for 2-inch ones to more than US$9 per piece, according to industry sources...

Revenues from semiconductor business to outperform solar, says SAS

Mar 27, 15:00

Taiwan-based solar wafer supplier Sino-American Silicon (SAS) has indicated that by acquiring Japan-based Covalent, the firm's revenue share is likely to change. The solar business...

Sapphire ingot prices stabilize

Mar 22, 14:33

Prices of sapphire ingots have stabilized recently but overall demand has not yet recovered to a level that will warrant makers to hike quotes.

Sapphire substrate makers expect February revenues to improve

Mar 1, 01:35

Demand in the LED industry has been returning and some LED chipmakers have been enjoying 90% capacity utilization rates. Nevertheless, inventory levels are still high, causing sapphire...

Sapphire substrate maker Wafer Works Optronics reports net loss for 2011

Feb 6, 14:20

Weak demand in the LED market in 2011 caused pricing of upstream sapphire substrates to decrease as well. 2-inch substrates have been quoted around US$8-10/unit.

GT Advanced sees FY 3Q12 revenues decrease

Feb 2, 11:24

GT Advanced Technologies has reported results for its third quarter of fiscal year 2012, which ended December 31, 2011.

Acme introduces 120KG sapphire ingot growing furnace

Dec 30, 11:40

Taiwan-based sapphire ingot growing firm Acme has announced a 120KG crystal ingot growing furnace that can produce sapphire substrates for large-size LEDs.

LED sapphire substrate price stabilizes at US$8/unit in December

Dec 14, 01:15

The price of 2-inch sapphire substrates has been stabilizing in November and December at around US$8/unit, according to industry sources. The price is expected to rebound soon.

Alpha Xtal and Tera Xtal to merge ahead of schedule

Nov 16, 01:10

LED sapphire ingot maker Alpha Xtal and substrate maker Tera Xtal will merge on December 10. According to Alpha Xtal, revenues for November and December are likely to be flat compared...

LED sapphire price to return to stability in 2012

Nov 15, 01:05

The price of 2-inch sapphire substrates continues to hold at around US$10/unit. However, industry sources indicated starting from the second half of October, there has been some sapphire...

Competition heating up in LED sapphire market

Nov 14, 14:35

The sapphire crystal growing/substrate industry has been experiencing aggressive expansion despite the weak LED market. South Korea-based STC is currently the global leader in the...

LED sapphire substrate makers post mixed results for October

Nov 11, 14:42

Crystalwise Technology and Tera Xtal Technology have reported sequential growth in revenues for October 2011, while Crystal Applied Technology posted a drop.

Rubicon Technology reports 3Q11 results, revenues up 64% sequentially

Nov 9, 14:06

Rubicon Technology, a provider of sapphire substrates and products to the LED, RFIC, Semiconductor, and Optical industries, has reported financial results for its third quarter ended...

GT Advanced revenues increase due to sapphire equipment

Nov 2, 14:46

GT Advanced Technologies (GT) saw its fiscal 2011 revenues reach US$899 million. Accumulated orders for the firm's Advanced Sapphire Furnace (ASF) product line have reached US$944...

GCL Group enters sapphire substrate market

Oct 31, 16:17

Following its recent accouncement to suspend development of its LED epitaxy due to low demand in the LED industry, Hong Kong-based GCL Group has spelt out the intention to enter the...

Sapphire substrate makers report mixed September revenues

Oct 12, 11:41

The price of sapphire substrates has been low due to weak demand in the downstream LED market. According to sapphire substrare maker, Crystalwise, order visibility has been low despite...

Sapphire substrate price leveling out in October

Oct 5, 16:17

The price of sapphire substrates continues to fall due to decreasing demand from LED applications. However, industry sources indicate the price decline has been coming to a slow stop...

LED sapphire substrate firms post poor August sales

Sep 13, 14:04

Major Taiwan-based sapphire substrate makers Crystal Applied Technology, Crystalwise Technology and Tera Xtal Technology have reported sequential declines in revenues of 52%, 44%...

Major sapphire substrate makers post heavy losses in 1H11

Sep 1, 01:20

Three major Taiwan-based sapphire substrate makers Crystalwise Technology, Tera Xtal Technology and Crystal Applied Technology all have posted losses for the first half of 2011 due...

Solar wafer gross margins contract significantly, says SAS president

Aug 31, 12:01

Demand for semiconductor has been steady, according to Doris Hsu, president of Taiwan-based Sino-American Silicon (SAS). As for the solar businesses, the magnitude of price falls...

LED chipmakers Tekcore, Genesis post mixed results for 1H11

Aug 26, 11:43

LED chipmakers Tekcore and Genesis Photonics have posted mixed results for the first half of 2011, with the former posting a loss of NT$0.68 (US$0.02) per share and the latter enjoying...

Price of sapphire substrates to drop in 4Q11 due to high levels of inventory

Aug 23, 01:00

Weak demand in the LED market has been causing the price for upstream sapphire substrates to drop continuously. The price of 2-inch sapphire substrates dropped to US$15-17/unit in...

GT Solar renamed GT Advanced Technologies

Aug 12, 09:51

GT Solar has announced that it has completed the process of changing its name to GT Advanced Technologies. As part of the rebranding and new corporate identity, the company is now...

Sapphire crystal firms see weak July sales

Aug 10, 15:39

Weak demand for LED backlight modules has been affecting upstream sapphire crystal growing and substrate firms. According to industry sources, the price of 2-inch sapphire substrates...

China-based LED firm Elec-Tech searches for strategic partners in Taiwan

Aug 3, 15:26

Tony Wang, chair of China-based LED firm Elec-Tech International recently visited Taiwan in search of strategic partners. Elec-Tech added Taiwan-based sapphire substrate maker Procrystal...

Sapphire ingots, substrates face large price drops

Jul 20, 14:05

Supply shortages caused the price of sapphire ingots and substrates to increase rapidly in 2010 resulting in high gross margins and revenues for related firms. However, the tide has...

Crystal Applied lowers dividend payout ratio

Jul 20, 01:25

Weak demand in the sapphire substrate market has been causing the price of sapphire ingots and substrates to fall rapidly in third-quarter 2011. To deal with uncertainty in the market,...

Sapphire ingot prices to fall to US$14-15/mm in 3Q11

Jun 24, 11:33

Prices for sapphire ingots, a material for making LED chips, have declined more than 20% to less than US$20/mm in the second quarter of 2011, according to industry sources. Prices...

New sapphire substrate plant to break ground in July, says SAS

Jun 17, 16:20

Taiwan-based wafer maker, Sino-American Silicon (SAS) stated there is stable demand for semiconductors and a slight return of demand for solar products at its shareholders meeting...