For immediate release:
Are sturdy sapphire screen covers the next
must-have for mobile phones?
Lyon, France – October 3rd, 2013: All the recent buzz about sapphire display covers has a lot of
consumers excited about the potential for a sturdier mobile phone display that won’t crack or break.
But ramping production of enough sapphire for even one best-selling phone model is a major challenge-requiring a 7x to 10x jump in the world’s capacity for growing the sapphire material, organization of
a new supply chain to make it into display covers, and some $1.8 billion in capital investment, according
to technology analyst firm Yole Développement (Lyon, France). But the major mobile phone suppliers
are looking seriously at doing it.
“It’s a big change for the specialty sapphire semiconductor niche to ramp to mobile phone volumes,
and a big phone maker will likely have to take an active role in putting the supply chain together,” says
Yole Développement’s Analyst, Eric Virey. But he notes that the big players are hiring sapphire experts
and looking closely at potential suppliers.
High quality industrial sapphire is now mainly made by relatively small companies, who grow cylinders
of the pure material and cut it into 2-inch to 4-inch diameter wafers, used to make tiny chips for LED
lighting. Display panels would need to be sliced out of rectangular blocks instead, using different
versions of the existing processing equipment, all optimized for an entirely different scale of
production. A best-selling phone would need 2000-3000 growth furnaces to make its initial sapphire
ramp up, and up to double that number ultimately, Yole Développement estimates. Current phone
display panel makers already churning out 20-30 million cover units a month would likely be involved
in ramping sapphire to that scale.
Cost and performance also still need some optimizing for this new application. While sapphire has near
ideal properties of hardness and mechanical strength, actually producing thin display covers in high
volume that maintain that quality is still a bit problematic. Slicing and polishing can introduce edge
cracks and stresses than compromise the ideal, so outperforming Gorilla glass still require some work
on understanding the physics and optimizing the production process. With current technology, a
sapphire display cover would likely cost about $25-$30, but our models suggest that could be reduced
to ~$10-$13 in volume. Adoption assumes that consumers will be willing to pay a higher price for a
phone that does not break as easily, or that the phone maker that offered sturdier displays at a similar
price would gain enough market share volume to come out ahead—if they can create the scalable
supply chain.
Yole Développement reports - About the sapphire industry:

Sapphire Applications, Touch screens, displays, semiconductor, defense and consumer
report
Non substrate applications account for 25% of the US$1 billion sapphire industry. But emerging
mobile phone applications could bring this total to more than $3 billion by 2018.
Yole Développement – Le Quartz – 75 cours Emile Zola – 69100 Lyon-Villeurbanne - France
Publication date: June 2013

Sapphire Substrates 2013 report
Excess capacity to trigger massive consolidation and attrition. Will cell phone windows come
to the rescue?
Publication date: 21 December 2012
Feel free to contact Sandrine Leroy ([email protected]) for further information.
About Yole Développement – www.yole.fr
Founded in 1998, Yole Développement has grown to become a group of companies providing marketing, technology
and strategy consulting, media in addition to corporate finance services. With a strong focus on emerging applications
using silicon and/or micro manufacturing, Yole Développement group has expanded to include more than 50 associates
worldwide covering MEMS, Compound Semiconductors, LED, Image Sensors, Optoelectronics, Microfluidics & Medical,
Photovoltaics, Advanced Packaging, Nanomaterials and Power Electronics. The group supports industrial companies,
investors and R&D organizations worldwide to help them understand markets and follow technology trends to develop
their business.
CONSULTING
• Market data, market research & marketing analysis
• Technology analysis
• Reverse engineering & costing services
• Strategy consulting
• Patent analysis
More information on www.yole.fr
REPORTS
• Collection of technology & market reports
• Manufacturing cost simulation tools
• Component reverse engineering & costing analysis
• Patent investigation
FINANCIAL SERVICES
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Due diligence
• Fundraising
• Coaching of emerging companies
• IP portfolio management & optimization
More information on www.yolefinance.com
MEDIA
• Online disruptive technologies website: www.imicronews.com
• Editorial webcasts program
• Six magazines: Micronews - MEMS Trends – 3D Packaging
– iLED – Power Dev' - New in 2014: Image Sensors Industry
• Communication & Webcasts services
CONTACTS
For more information about :
• Consulting Services : Christophe Fitamant ([email protected])
• Financial Services: Géraldine Andrieux-Gustin ([email protected])
• Reports: David Jourdan ([email protected])
• Media & Communication : Sandrine Leroy ([email protected])
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