Sapphire Ingot MarketSize and Trends
Market Dynamics
Increasing demand for sapphire ingot from smart watches and mobile covers are major factors driving growth of the global sapphire ingot market. Sapphire ingot is manufactured in bulk quantities with commercially acceptable purity levels. Therefore, it is preferred in the luxury watches industry for producing high strength and hardness of watch windows.
Market Outlook
- Among application, smart phones segment held a significant share in the global sapphire ingot market in 2017, owing to the high demand for sapphire ingot in front cover of smartphones. Further, rising number of smart phone users around the world is anticipated to fuel this segment growth, during the forecast period. For instance, according to the Australian Communications and Media Authority, in May 2012, number of smartphone owners in Australia was 8.67 million, an increase by 104% from the previous year.
- Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing region in the global sapphire ingot market over the forecast period. This is owing to increasing demand for LED screens in emerging economies such as China and India for application in various electronic products. For instance, according to India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), in India, The production of LED/ LCD TVs screen was valued at US$ 2.54 billion in 2015 and increased by US$ 3.3 billion in 2016. In the LED production process, sapphire is used as the substrate onto which the chemicals that become the emitting layer of the LED are deposited as a vapor. Furthermore, smartphones and tablet PCs manufacturers in the region are focused on developing products in thin sizes, which has led to increasing demand for thinner and more flexible displays. Therefore, key players are focused on introducing innovative technologies to cater to such demand. For instance, in 2016, Nitto Denko Company introduced Ultra-Thin Polarizers, which are thinner and more resistance to shrinkage and are applicable in LED, LCD, and organic electro luminance (EL) display devices.
