Following international lighting giants Philips, OSRAM, and GE shift towards LED lighting, local manufacturers from various countries followed suit. CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets most recent report showed a good outlook for LED lighting market development in 2014 and believes that LED lighting demands will be the driver for LED manufacturing capital expenditures in 2014. They predict that global numbers for new MOCVD units in 2014 will increase compared to 2013, reaching an estimated 390 units.

According to the content in CLSA’s report, Epistar, Formosa Epitaxy, San’an, CREE, OSRAM, and other LED manufacturers in 2014 will all experience a rise in production capacity demands. CLSA predicts that the capital expenditure cycle in 2014 will restart. MOCVD units are expected to increase from 200 units in 2013 to 390 units in 2014, an increase in growth of 95 percent.

CLSA estimates that Epistar’s production capacity in 2014 will increase 20 percent. 2014 MOCVD units are expected to increase to 35-40 units compared with 5-10 units in 2013. This is in order to satisfy demands brought about by the increased production capacity within the lighting market. CREE and OSRAM likewise expect an increase in 2014 after a limited expansion in production capacity for 2013.

 Chinese LED manufacturers San’an and Elec-Tech International expect to increase MOCVD units in 2014 to 100 units and 50 units respectively. However, according to news from equipment manufacturers, San’an and Elec-Tech’s equipment orders are still not clear. CLSA therefore believes that MOCVD unit deliveries for the Chinese market in 2014 are still uncertain.

CLSA believes that the expansion of the entire LED industry’s production capacity is rational and healthy. With the increasingly strong demand in lighting, it is predicted that global LED demand for 2014 will be higher than 2013 by 30-35 percent. LED average price in 2014 will drop by 10-15 percent.