In 2020, affected by COVID-19, the global LED terminal application demand has declined significantly year-on-year, especially in the fields of display screens and landscape lighting. In terms of packaging, TrendForce data shows that the output value of LED packaging for the year was 15.3 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 9.6%.
Affected by the decline in terminal demand, the LED chip market demand has also declined. Mainland China has become the world's major LED chip supply base. Although some small and medium-sized enterprises have withdrawn from the chip market in 2020, new production capacity is still being released, including San'an's Quanzhou base and Zhaochi's Nanchang base.
In general, the total LED chip revenue of LED chip manufacturers in mainland China (only external sales) in 2020 was 11.5 billion RMB, a year-on-year decrease of 6.6%. Although the second half of the year benefited from the recovery in terminal demand, the utilization rate of LED chip manufacturers was There has been a significant increase, and product prices have also risen. However, due to the low utilization rate in the first half of the year and the exit of some companies, the overall output value has fallen.
In terms of industry concentration, due to the exit of some companies, the industry concentration continues to increase. Currently, there are about 14 LED chip manufacturers in production in the mainland, of which the top ten manufacturers account for 97% of the revenue, and the top three manufacturers’ revenue The revenue ratio reached 67%.
Sanan Optoelectronics is still in an absolute leading position. The release of Quanzhou base production capacity in 2020 will further expand San'an Optoelectronics' total production capacity. LED chip revenue accounts for more than 40% of the total revenue of mainland chip manufacturers. In 2021, the production capacity of Sanan Optoelectronics' Quanzhou base and Hubei Ezhou base will continue to be released, and will continue to consolidate the leading position of LED chips. In the field of Mini LED chips, Sanan Optoelectronics direct display and backlighting have developed simultaneously, and shipments will increase significantly in the second half of 2020, and it has now entered the supply chain of internationally renowned manufacturers. It is also worth mentioning that in 2020, Sanan Optoelectronics' compound semiconductor business will continue to maintain a rapid growth trend, with total revenue exceeding RMB 900 million, a year-on-year increase of more than three times. And the 1Q21 revenue will exceed 40% of the full year of 2020. It is expected that the compound semiconductor business revenue will continue to maintain rapid growth in 2021.
HC Semitek followed San'an Optoelectronics and ranked second. In 2020, HC Semitek adjusted its product structure. The revenue share of low-end lighting chip products declined, and the revenue share of high-end chip products such as high-efficiency lighting, backlighting, and automotive applications rose. The annual profitability has increased significantly. In the third quarter of 2020, Realized a turnaround from loss to profit, and the annual net profit also returned to a positive value. In the field of Mini LED chips, HC Semitek is in a leading position in China, taking the lead in solving the light splitting and high grayscale display problems of Mini LED in COB applications. Since 2019, Mini LED chip products have been the first to achieve mass production and sales in the industry. . Mini LED RGB chip products have been used in many key projects of mainstream Mini LED terminal manufacturers. Mini LED backlight chip products have covered a full range of full-size terminal products for Pads, notebook computers, monitors, TVs, and vehicles.
Qianzhao Optoelectronics ranks third, 2020 LED chip revenue continues to grow, and the growth rate is more than 20%. However, in terms of profitability, Qianzhao Optoelectronics will continue to lose money in 2020, and the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies will be -250 million RMB. In the future development direction, in addition to the original red-yellow and blue-green chips, Qianzhao Optoelectronics will also focus on the development of Mini/Micro LED, infrared, VCSEL and solar cell businesses.
Jucan Optoelectronics ranked fourth, up by one place compared with 2019. Jucan Optoelectronics is mainly engaged in lighting LED chips. In the second half of 2020, market demand will pick up and production capacity will be released. By the end of 2020, the output will be nearly 300,000 pieces/month (4 inches). In the future, Jucan Optoelectronics will focus on the high-end LED chip industry represented by Mini LED, high-quality lighting, and plant lighting.
The other 5-10 vendors are Aoyang Shunchang, Zhaochi, Hualei Optoelectronics, Silan Mingxin, Zhaoyuan Optoelectronics, and Development Jing. Among them, Zhaochi has the fastest development speed. It will be put into production at the end of 2019. The production capacity will be gradually released in the first half of 2020. Initially, Zhaochi will be mainly used internally. The market will be gradually opened in the second half of the year. The production capacity will continue to be released. By the end of the year, the output has reached 550,000 pieces. /Month (4 inches), and most of the products are sold externally.
After the low period of the epidemic in 2020, market demand is gradually recovering, and some changes have taken place in the LED chip industry in mainland China. From the perspective of the supply side, although the production capacity of new projects has been continuously released, at the same time some small and medium-sized enterprises have also withdrawn, resulting in no significant increase in market supply. From the demand side, due to the increasing market demand for Mini direct display, Mini backlight, high-end lighting, backlighting, and automotive applications, leading companies such as San'an and Huacan have reduced the production capacity of low-end products and turned to high-end products. Therefore, it can be seen that the current market prices of low-end products have gradually increased; the threshold for high-end products is relatively high, market competition is relatively slack, and companies can also guarantee certain profits. Looking forward to 2021, with the improvement of supply and the support of demand, it is expected that the LED chip industry in Mainland China will develop more healthily, and the profitability of enterprises is expected to be improved. (Text: LEDinside Allen)
