As Japan-based sapphire substrate manufactures continue to reduce prices, Taiwan sapphire industry is confronting increasing competition from Japan.The price difference between Japan- and Taiwan-based sapphire substrates has been narrowed to 10-20%, according to industry sources.
 
Sources indicated that Japan-based Kyocera and Namiki have been shifting strategies and lowering quotes to Taiwan-based LED firms. The quotes for 4-inch large-size substrates have been falling to US$50-55/unit, forcing Taiwan-based peers to follow suit and push down prices to US$40-45/unit. The Japan-based firms have also been lowering quotes for mainstream 2-inch substrates to US$10-12/unit, this narrows the price gap between Japan- and Taiwan-based sapphire firms as the current market price is around US$8-9/unit.