Patent barriers threaten the industrial security LED chip profit margins are foreign companies earn

"Made in Chongqing" large size sapphire substrate "scenery" export overseas, since the second half of 2011 put into operation, the fourth photoelectric has become the preferred partner of OSRAM, PHILPS and other world's top lighting manufacturers. In the face of a "report card" such a beautiful day, before the four photoelectric technology responsible person in an interview with this reporter, is heavy-hearted.

"Although our sapphire substrate technology has reached the world's leading level, but the chip technology is a blank. He admitted.

According to him, LED industry chain from top to bottom, including the substrate, epitaxial and chip, packaging, application of the four links. Due to the fierce competition in the LED industry, the average profit margin of other sectors can reach 10% has been pretty good, but the average profit margin of foreign high-end chips reached 30%!

Originally, from the last century since 60s, the United States, Germany, Japan, Holland and other countries of the enterprise the chip core technology firmly in the hands, has formed the patent barriers, domestic enterprises to use high-end chip, it can only be imported from abroad.

Not long ago, China's LED industry has been the development of heavy land in Shenzhen, suddenly announced the abolition of the introduction of the 2009 LED industry planning. Its background is a large number of enterprises blindly into the downstream packaging LED, the application of the market, get together and develop, resulting in excess capacity, while most of the upstream substrate, chip market is not the core competitiveness. The whole industry is not as rapid as originally imagined, and even a lot of output value of 100 million level of enterprises have closed down.

Quadruple group is no exception. Since 2008, overseas hunters, acquisition of Canadian sapphire business Honey Well Company, four group not only have a strong technological advantage in the sapphire substrate, the package, the application link also has reached the domestic advanced level. But the vast majority of their chips are still dependent on imports, which led us to chip products in the LED chip profit margins are largely foreigners earn. "

How to do it? Quadruple photoelectric come up with two strokes countermeasures. First, the patent for patents, patent cross licensing, mutual use. Currently, the hands of the four photoelectric holds 72 patents, mostly in the layout, application. If foreign companies in the Chinese market to downstream development, at least four photoelectric can also form a number of patent barriers for cross licensing as a bargaining chip". Two is staring at the forefront of the international LED industry technology, product development, early in China Patent layout. "At present, we are making efforts in these two areas. The responsible person.

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Patent barriers threaten the safety of industry

Although China's LED industry has initially formed a relatively complete industrial chain, but most of the domestic enterprises are concentrated in the downstream industry, into the upper reaches of the few. Deputy director of the Chongqing Intellectual Property Research Association, deputy director of the Municipal Intellectual Property Bureau, said Chen Jigang, this structural imbalance, in the final analysis is caused by lack of technology.

Chongqing has made it clear to accelerate the development of LED industry. But in March this year, Chongqing city "" LED industry patent analysis report pointed out that the domestic LED patent in the field of substrate, extension and chips in the upstream accounted for only 4.1%, more in encapsulation, application and other aspects, and abroad, the proportion is 17.3%.

Among them, the most intensive patent chip. Japan, South Korea, the United States and Europe in the area of patent applications accounted for 76.6% of the total, while China (excluding Taiwan) accounted for only about 7.2%.

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