China's production value of LED chips is expected to exceed Taiwan's for the first time in 2015 or 2016, according to a Digitimes article that cited Taiwan industry sources. The article noted that while some China-based LED chipmakers withdrew from the market, larger ones including HC SemiTek, San'an Optoelectronics, Aucksun, and Suzhou Nanojoin Photonics used government subsidies to expand production capacities.
The subsidies specifically went into adding MOCVD systems in 2014. About 155 to 170 MOCVD systems were added for additional LED production in China in 2014.In total China currently has 1172 MOCVD systems. More than 250 MOCVD systems are expected to be added for LED production in 2015. Most will go into producing 4-inch LED epitaxial wafers. With the addition of 155-170 MOCVD sets in 2014, there are 1,172 sets in total in China currently, according to the article. In 2015, more than 250 MOCVD sets, mostly for making 4-inch LED epitaxial wafers, are expected to be added, the industry sources noted.
China-based LED chip makers including subsidiaries established by Taiwan-based LED chip producers reportedly boosted LED chip production by about 40% in 2014 to about US$1.95-2.24 billion. The total production value of LED chips from china is expected to grow by 35% in 2015.