According to the latest report by the LEDinside research division of TrendForce, 2020 Deep UV LED Application Market and Branding Strategies, the rapid acceleration of COVID-19 has generated a corresponding boom in the disease-prevention business. Case in point, the demand for UV-C LED (wavelength≦280 nm), a type of LED with disinfection/sterilization properties, has skyrocketed since the Lunar New Year, in turn causing massive shortages across the entire supply chain. Given the extreme shortage of UV-C LED chips, LED package suppliers looking to place orders for these chips need to exercise caution when setting chip specifications; these suppliers may also need to bear the risk of possible chip shortages. The current shortage in the UV-C LED market has led to an adjustment to UV-C LED chip quotes, in turn resulting in purchasers being unable to procure chips even with at high bid prices. TrendForce Research Manager Joanne Wu indicates that some UV-C LED suppliers are already seeing order fulfillment schedules that will last till August 2020. In addition, owing to increased orders for UV-C LED, several suppliers are expected to see double-digit YoY growths in their UV-C LED revenues this year, in particular those that have maintained UV-C LED chip and package operations for many years, including Seoul Viosys, Asahi Kasei (Crystal IS), Stanley, Bioraytron (a joint venture by Epileds and HPLighting) and San’an Optoelectronics. UV-C LED chip suppliers primarily include San’an Optoelectronics, Photon Wave, Opto Tech, and Epileds.

Earlier this week, UV LED specialist RayVio’s CEO Robert Walker spoke to LEDinside about the company’s outlook for the UVC LED sector, and their current market strategy.