LED chip killing fierce Liucheng LED chip companies exit

"Open the phone and see a lot of text messages, there are many factories to find me." BDO Runda Wang Donglei pointed to his mobile phone.

Wang Donglei said that the factory refers to the epitaxial chip company upstream LED, a few days ago, he said in an interview with reporters that at least three epidemic chip companies are currently seeking BDO Runda's acquisition.

This may be the tip of the iceberg of the "dangerous situation" of the LED chip industry. The data shows that in 2009 there were 62 LED chip companies in the country, but only 20 of them are in normal production. What is even more frightening is that a number of industry figures predict that there may be only three or five chip companies left in the future.

60% of enterprises have exited in succession

According to the statistical data of Gaogong LED, the total output value of the domestic LED chip industry in 2009 was more than 2 billion yuan, and the number of enterprises divided by region reached 62. The reporter found the list of statistics, of which there were 10 LED chip companies in Guangdong at the time, and 8 in Fujian. There were dozens of other companies distributed in more than a dozen places in Jiangsu, Hubei and Shandong.

Today, many companies on the list no longer exist. Nguyen Jun, deputy secretary-general of the National Semiconductor Lighting Research and Development and Industry Alliance, revealed to reporters that there are currently more than 20 chip companies in the mainland.

This also means that in just five years, almost 60% of chip companies have exited. The reporter was informed that not all of the "60% of companies" have closed down, and that there are still 10 families in the "vegetative state." At the 2014 Senior Engineer LED Annual Meeting, Zhang Xiaofei, director of the High-tech LED Industry Research Institute, explained that although these companies did not fail, they are already on the verge of bankruptcy. They are basically not producing, or the output is very small, so they are called “vegetative state”. ".

Hefei Rainbow Blu-ray Technology Co., Ltd. had a half-life suspension this year. In 2010, the company's LED project was formally started. According to the planning at that time, the total investment of the project was 10 billion yuan. It will use two phases to build 200 MOCVD (45 or more machines) and supporting chip production lines in three phases in three years.

According to the reporter’s calculations, if this plan is successfully completed, Hefei Rainbow Blu-ray Technology Co., Ltd. will become the top two companies in China with MOCVD. However, from the end of December 2013 to May of this year, the company was in a semi-discontinued state for six months and did not resume production until June.

Now, some companies that are on the verge of bankruptcy are doing everything possible to seek for acquisitions. Wang Donglei made it clear that at least three epitaxial chip companies currently want to find BDO Runda for integration. And these chip companies also have a certain position in the industry. "Small does not enter my eyes."

According to Hang Hua, vice president of Enray Optoelectronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., small and medium-sized enterprises do not invest enough in R&D, and their scale is not enough. This gap with large companies will increase, and some companies will find it difficult to accept. The brightness of the chip is improved every quarter. For chip companies, if the brightness does not increase for a while, it is easy to fall behind.

Will there be three or five homes in the future?

Wang Donglei believes that the current domestic market can not digest the production capacity of more than 20 chip companies. If the Chinese-made lighting products only supply the Chinese market, then one upstream chip company will suffice.

However, he also emphasized that Chinese manufacturing is serving the world. At present, everyone's consensus is that the future LED lighting manufacturing base in China. Prior to this, Wang Donglei had always believed that the upper reaches of LED could not escape the laws of the development of the semiconductor industry. The world may only have 3 to 5 LED epitaxial chip companies.

It is more than Wang Donglei, who holds the "three-five" theory. In June of this year, Jiang Zhongyong, general manager of Hangzhou Shilan Mingxin Technology Co., Ltd., said that companies with cost control capabilities, leading technology advantages, stable product quality, and large-scale production capabilities can stay. Currently there are about 20 LED chip factories in China, which is still too much. From the market demand, only about 5 LED chip factories can continue to exist in the next five years.

In fact, from a quantitative point of view, there are currently more than five listed companies involved in LED chips in China. If the “three or five” theory is established, the future reshuffle may further expand to more well-funded listed companies.

But even so, many companies are still expanding their production. On December 9th, BDO Runda flip chip was mass-produced in Anhui. According to insiders, the current flip chip production capacity is 15,000 pieces per month. The company plans to achieve 50,000 pieces after reaching the second stage in the fourth quarter of next year. The production capacity. The company’s current capacity for producing chips is also 50,000 per month. This means that by the end of next year BDO Runda’s chip capacity will double.

In addition to BDO Runda, Huacan Optoelectronics, Sanan Optoelectronics and other companies have also announced plans to expand production this year.

No one took over the sale of old equipment

It is easy for capital to come in and out. Zhang Xiaofei told reporters that from what he has learned in the industry, it is very difficult for some chip companies to retreat, because old equipment is not easy to handle. "The old equipment was very difficult to sell, and there was even a one-hundred-percent discount on the offer."

The decline in new equipment prices and the increase in performance are the first obstacles to the sale of old equipment.

Zhang Xiaofei said that compared with 2011, the current price of new MOCVD equipment has been reduced by about 40%. The price of new equipment has dropped significantly, and old equipment has lost its price advantage. "The most critical problem is that the cost of equipment has dropped. The original 100-dollar equipment may now be purchased at 70," said Wang Lianghai, vice president of Tongfang.

Not only that, on the basis of the decline in the price of new equipment, the performance has instead been greatly improved. Zhang Xiaofei said that the current equipment yield is higher and more intelligent at the same time. Now a computer host can manage 3 to 4 MOCVD devices at the same time. The previous machine must have one person to guard. In this way, companies do not want to buy old machines.

"The new devices are becoming more and more intelligent. If the current workers do not understand the operation, they have to specifically ask people. This is more troublesome." Zhang Xiaofei further analyzed.

He also stated that important equipment such as MOCVD is often associated with land and factories. In general, companies sell equipment and they also require the entire plant to be “packaged,” which is equivalent to setting up a branch factory for buyers. , causing great inconvenience to the management of the company. In addition, the debt owed behind the MOCVD equipment and the relationship with local governments will be more complex, so few buyers are willing to sell.

Wang Lianghai made it clear that the reporter may not be willing to buy three or four percent of old equipment. "It's better to buy a new one." BDO Runda also has little interest in those LED chip companies and equipment that do not move. Wang Donglei believes that there are not many acquisition values, he smiled and said: "Look at it slowly."