In the context of economic globalization, the optoelectronic industry is showing a new development trend from independent technology to integration with energy, information, medical, and artificial intelligence；In this article, we will dive into the export status of optoelectronic industry in the key province in China-Fujian and review its export structure under the new norm.
Since 2009, based on the optoelectronic industry in Taiwan Province, after years of development and improvement, the optoelectronic industry in Fujian Province has formed a solid industrial structure; photoelectric display, semiconductor lighting, solar photovoltaic, optical communication, and precision optical devices are exported to more than 160 markets.
What is optoelectronic industry
The optoelectronic industry covers optoelectronic components, optoelectronic display, optical input/output, optical storage, optical communication, laser, photovoltaic power generation, semiconductor lighting, optoelectronic peripheral products (mainly dedicated manufacturing equipment for optoelectronic products, etc.), involving information optoelectronics, energy optoelectronics , consumer optoelectronics, military optoelectronics, software and network, optical computer, medical optoelectronics, environmental optoelectronics and other sub-industries.
At present, the development of the optoelectronic industry has become an important symbol of a country's comprehensive national strength, and it is also one of the main emerging technology industries in China.
Opportunities and challenges coexist
In the face of the global traditional energy crisis and climate change risk, more than 130 countries and regions worldwide have proposed the goal of "zero carbon" or "carbon neutrality", which provides opportunities for the optoelectronic industries as a whole. While gaining development opportunities, the optoelectronic industry in Fujian Province is also facing many challenges. The United States, Japan, and Europe still hold the optoelectronic industry's core technology, standards, and brands.
The review of the photovoltaic industry development
Relying on the unique, high-quality silicon mines and abundant hydropower resources, Fujian Province took the lead in introducing policies and measures to promote the development of the solar photovoltaic industry in 2007.
At the same time, it is connected with the transfer of the photovoltaic industry in Taiwan, Europe, and the United States. In 2011, the output value of the photovoltaic industry in Fujian Province reached 40 billion yuan. Fujian has established more than ten optoelectronic information industrial parks focusing on solar photovoltaic projects. So far, it has already formed a complete industrial chain covering polycrystalline silicon, monocrystalline silicon solar cells and components, thin-film solar cells, and solar photovoltaic applications.
After 2012, due to the unbalanced development of the industrial chain in Fujian Province and the lack of talent, the "double reverse" investigation initiated by the United States and other countries and regions, the price restrictions of the European Union, and the rapid decline in the unit price of global photovoltaic products, the photovoltaic industry in Fujian Province is currently in a state of crisis.
In 2018, the direct output value of the photovoltaic industry in Fujian Province was only about 10 billion yuan. Major companies include Shine Earth New Energy(Fujian), Gold Stone (Fujian) Energy Company Limited, JP-SOLAR, Fujian Ruico New Energy Technology Co.,Ltd, Kehua, Xiamen Jumao New Energy Co., Ltd., etc. The mainstream technology route is the high-efficiency "PERC+SE" technology (passivated emitter back contact plus selective emitter technology) represented by Shine Earth New Energy and the HDT technology (heterojunction double-sided technology) represented by JP-SOLAR.
In terms of foreign cooperation, photovoltaic enterprises in Fujian Province, represented by Zhangzhou Kibing Glass Co., Ltd., have expanded their business to all ASEAN countries and South Asia and the Middle East by investing in and building factories in Malaysia, Vietnam and other countries.
Steady growth in solar cell exports
Solar cells are essential export products of the photovoltaic industry in Fujian Province. Overall, the export of solar cells in Fujian Province has experienced a process from rapid decline, short-term recovery, and slight decline to continuous recovery.
1. Rapid decline. Affected by the rapid shrinkage of the photovoltaic market in the United States and Europe in 2011 and the "double reverse" investigations in the United States and the European Union that began in 2012, the export value of solar cells in Fujian Province has continued to decline for four consecutive years since 2011.
2. A brief rise. Thanks to the surge in exports to countries along the "Belt and Road" such as Singapore and Thailand, the annual growth rate was nearly three times that of the same period last year, which led to a short-term rebound in the total export volume of solar cells in Fujian Province in 2015.
3. Slight decline. In 2016 and 2017, also due to the shrinking market demand along the “Belt and Road”, the export value of solar cells in Fujian Province continued to decline again.
4. Continue to rise. In 2018, the export of solar cells in Fujian Province began to rebound, with a year-on-year increase of 54.4%, of which the market along the “Belt and Road” increased by 156.0% year-on-year.
In 2020, due to the number of export markets and the stability of export trade to markets along the “Belt and Road” such as Pakistan and Thailand, the export trade of solar cells in Fujian Province was not significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the export volume increased slightly by 28.6% year-on-year.
Data source: Compiled according to China Customs statistics.
Distribution of main export markets of solar cells in Fujian Province in 2019
Data source: Compiled according to China Customs statistics.
Distribution of main export markets of solar cells in Fujian Province in 2020
Data source: Compiled according to China Customs statistics.
Development Status of Semiconductor Lighting Industry in Fujian Province
The semiconductor lighting industry is a characteristic optoelectronic industry that started earlier and developed faster in Fujian Province. At present, the semiconductor lighting industry in Fujian Province has established a relatively complete industrial chain covering epitaxial chips, packaging, lighting applications, and other fields. At the same time, Xiamen Semiconductor Industrialization Base, Zhangzhou Lidaxin Town, Anxi Photoelectric Industrial Park, and other industrial clusters have been built.
In the field of epitaxial chips, Fujian Province is the production base with the most muscular strength, the enormous scale, and the complete varieties of LED epitaxial chips in the country. San'an Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. and Xiamen Changelight Co., Ltd rank among the forefront of LED chip competitiveness in the country, and San'an Optoelectronics has the largest market share in the world.
In the field of midstream packaging, leading enterprises such as Xiamen Hualian Electronics Co., Ltd., Xiamen Xinda Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd., Kaistar Lighting (Xiamen) Co., Ltd., Xiamen Dacol Photoelectronics Technology Co., LTD. and LIGHTNING optoelectronic Co., Ltd. are relatively strong.
In the field of downstream lighting applications, LEEDARSON and Topstar were selected as one of the top ten enterprises in China's lighting industry.
The good industrial foundation has also attracted LED Taiwan-funded enterprises such as Epistar and Concord Opto Electric Tech to invest and set up factories in Fujian Province, further improving the LED industry chain in Fujian Province and strengthening the semiconductor lighting industry cluster in Fujian Province.
In terms of external cooperation, San'an Optoelectronics, Seoul Semiconductor of South Korea, and Viosys (SVC), a subsidiary of Seoul Semiconductor Holdings, invested in the establishment of a joint venture company "Anhui Sanshou Optoelectronics Co., Ltd."
GOPRO continue to strengthen the global market layout, and established an overseas subsidiary GOPRO (Singapore) Co., Ltd. in Singapore. The subsidiary recently plans to invest 3 million US dollars to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary GOPRO (Malaysia) Co., Ltd. in Malaysia to accelerate the expansion of Southeast Asia market.
Topstar has cooperated with General Electric Company (GE) to establish Xiamen Topstar Lighting Co., Ltd., Xiamen Topstar New Technology Co., Ltd. and other enterprises.
Resilience in LED export
Overall, the export of LED industry in Fujian Province showed a growth trend before 2017, and then entered a stage of slow decline in exports, but the export strength is still strong.
Affected by factors such as COVID-19 and Sino-US trade frictions, the export value of LED products in Fujian Province in 2020 will decrease by 10404.74 billion yuan year-on-year, a drop of 12.9%.
Among the 138 exporting countries or regions, the export value of more than 80% of the markets fell year-on-year, including 79 markets along the “Belt and Road” such as South Korea, Russia, Thailand, and the Philippines.
As the largest export market, the United States exported 2,652.697 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 13.0%. The "Belt and Road" line ranked second in the export market with an export value of 1,895.278 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 6.8%. Still, the proportion of the total export of LED products in Fujian Province increased slightly to 26.9%, of which South Korea, Russia, China, Poland, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates round out the top five.
Export of LED products in Fujian Province from 2010 to 2020
Data source: Compiled according to China Customs statistics.
Development Status of Optoelectronic Display Industry in Fujian Province
The optoelectronic display is the largest optoelectronic industry field in Fujian Province. The innovation strength of the photoelectric display industry in Fujian Province has been steadily increasing, and the trend of agglomeration and development is evident. It has become one of the leading production bases of terminal products such as flat panel displays, notebook computers, and LCD TVs in China.
Fujian has formed industrial clusters such as Fuqing Rongqiao Development Zone, Xiamen Torch High-tech Zone, and Putian High-tech Zone. TPK maintains the leading position in global touch components, and the annual output value of TPV, Jielian, AUO and other downstream enterprises exceeds 10 billion yuan.
Tianma Micro's output value exceeded 10 billion yuan at the end of 2017, BOE's 2018 output value exceeded 10 billion yuan, and Mantix Display Technology Co., Ltd. achieved a design capacity of 30,000 pieces/month of metal oxide panels in June 2018.
In terms of external cooperation, AUO has established operating bases in the United States, Japan, South Korea, and the Netherlands; The manufacturing layout of TPV Display Technology (Xiamen) Co., Ltd. and Fujian Jielian Electronics Co., Ltd. covers Brazil, Poland, Mexico and other countries; BOE has established marketing centers and R&D bases in the United States, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, India, Brazil, and the United Arab Emirates. Its service system has covered major global regions such as Europe, America, and Asia.
The export of LCD panels is temporarily shrinking
Liquid crystal display panels are currently one of the main export products of the optoelectronic display industry in Fujian Province. Overall, the export of LCD panels in Fujian Province showed a wave-like decline. The export volume reached the highest value in the past ten years in 2013 and then fell for three consecutive years. After an annual growth rate of 20.8% in 2017, it continued to decline. It was entering the stage of a slow decline in exports.
In 2020, the total export volume of LCD panels in Fujian Province fell for the third consecutive year, with a drop of 21.8%, and the export value of 9,348.444 million yuan fell to the lowest value in the past ten years; Among the 76 export markets, more than 70% of the markets experienced a year-on-year decline in export value; the top ten export markets were Poland, Vietnam, Mexico, Brazil, Hong Kong, South Korea, Indonesia, Egypt, Russia, and Turkey. It is worth noting that, except for Mexico, Brazil and Hong Kong, the other seven markets are all countries along the “Belt and Road”.
The export trade of LCD panels in Fujian Province has generally shown a downward trend since 2013. The number of export markets in 2020 has increased by 15.2% compared with 2010, and the export value has dropped by 49.1%, with a compound growth rate of -6.5%.
With the gradual shrinking of traditional export markets such as the United States and the European Union, emerging markets along the “Belt and Road,” such as Vietnam, Russia, and Egypt, are more important in the export trade of optoelectronic displays.
Table 3. 2010-2020 Fujian Province LCD Panel Exports
Data source: Compiled according to China Customs statistics.
Distribution of main export markets of LCD panels in Fujian Province in 2019
Distribution of Main Export Markets of LCD Panels in Fujian Province in 2020
Data source: Compiled according to China Customs statistic
Disclaimer: The source of data in this article is obtained from the internet. Monisight, an industry insightful ideas-sharing platform, will not bear any legal compliance from it.
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