Structural shorage of components results in 5-10% price rise for Mini LED chips

It is reported that some world-famous suppliers such as Apple and Samsung will showcase their newest laptop computers recently, most of TV manufactuers have introduced Mini ED backlights to TV sets, more and more companines in the LED supply chain are purchasing Mini LED chips recently. The recent rising market requirement growth for Mini LED chips forced the LED suppliers to put more efforts into expansion of Mini LED production capacities rather than other mainstream LED chips. Facing the recent shortage of LED chips, a certain quantity of LED chips suppliers have been raising the offers 5-10% higher given to some non VIP clients.

At the end of lunar year, many LED lights factories have started to stock components in large volume in order to balance their costs on raw materials and worsening shortage of components after Chinese new year holiday. However, the shortage of certain materials have already taken place for a moment, some Mini LED lights factories have to raise their wholesale prices for their small and medium-size clients or to extend their lead time up to two months for their big wholesalers.

Now Taiwanese Epistar is delivering about 150,000 pcs of Mini LED wafers (4-inch equivalent) each month.This production capacity is not enough for the skyrocketing  Mini LED demand recently. San’an and HC SemiTek are also bnefitting from Epistar order transfer. Based on its competitive advantage of highly cost-effective items, HC SemiTek has been full with production at hand for half of year since the third quarter of the year 2020.

It is believed that the price hike for LED chips arising from structural shortage of materials will still last earlier in the year 2021. Suppliers of key materials will stand strongly in price negotations because within the past few years, there has a clearance of excess capacities and highly concentrated supply of key components in terms of apphires wafers and PSS. It is forcasted that the price hike for LED chips will last until the middle of the year 2021 at least.