Sapphire substrate market to nearly triple as demand booms for covers in smartphones

El Segundo, CA--Traditionally used as a base to make LEDs, sapphire substrates now are being used by Apple (Cupertino, CA) and other smartphone makers as covers for camera lenses and home buttons, contributing to a rapid growth in sapphire demand (Another, more niche market for sapphire, when doped with titanium, is as a gain medium for ultrafast lasers).

Demand for 2-in.-diameter sapphire ingots used to make substrates will amount to 84 kilometers in 2016, up 166 percent from 32 kilometers in 2012, according to the Sapphire Ingot/Substrate Industry Report from IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS). This year will see particularly strong growth, with demand rising 70% to reach 54 kilometers, as presented in the attached figure. (Millimeters are a commonly used measure for sapphire ingot demand -- so when the figure reaches into the kilometers, yes, demand is high.)

“Apple triggered the current boom in demand when it became the first smartphone maker to employ a sapphire lens cover in 2012,” says Richard Son, senior LED analyst at IHS. “Other smartphone brands are now following suit, helping drive the growth of the sapphire ingot market for the next few years. Combined with strong sales from the fast-growing LED lighting market, the increase in demand should help alleviate the oversupply that has plagued the sapphire market in recent years.”

Apple first employed sapphire for the iSight camera-lens cover in the iPhone 5 in September 2012. The company then expanded its application to the home button of the new iPhone 5s, introduced last month. LG Electronics adopted sapphire for the camera lens cover of its Optimus G2 smartphone, introduced in September, 2013. Other handset makers, meanwhile, are expected to offer their own sapphire-equipped models in the near future.

Sapphire substrates are suitable for covering lenses, buttons, and displays because they are transparent, yet far more scratch-resistant than glass (sapphire reaches 9 on the Mohs hardness scale; diamond is 10, while ordinary glass is around 6). Glass can become scratched from contact with hard objects, which can degrade the performance of a camera lens or a fingerprint recognition window.

The LED market historically has dominated the sapphire segment, accounting for 90% of ingot demand in 2012. Sapphire plays an essential role in LEDs, serving as their substrate upon which they are built. In contrast, covers for smartphone and other mobile devices in 2012 represented a negligible total of less than 5% of sapphire demand. However, this situation is changing rapidly, with covers set to consume 20% of total sapphire ingots in 2014.

Despite the rising demand for covers, LEDs remain a major source of growth for the sapphire market.

“Global LED chip makers are increasing their run rates in 2013 thanks to the growth of the lighting market, which is boosting demand for sapphire substrates in LED use,” Son says. “However, demand for sapphire substrates from the smartphone market has been climbing as well. These combined demand drivers will help ease oversupply of the sapphire ingot market that had lasted for the past few years, and will significantly contribute to its growth.”

For more info, contact Jonathan Cassell at [email protected]