Sino-American Silicon Products (SAS) expects sales of sapphire wafer materials to account for 5-6% of revenues in 2011 compared to about 2% estimated for 2010, according to company chairman MK Lu. Meanwhile, the company's silicon wafer business will be another key growth driver in 2011, buoyed by expansion at subsidiary Globitech, Lu said.

SAS plans to grow monthly capacity for LED sapphire substrates to 120,000-180,000 units in 2011 from 60,000 in 2010, Lu indicated. New capacity will boost sales of the business significantly.

In addition, with Globitech expanding capacity in the US, Lu estimated SAS's semiconductor wafer business would contribute about 25% to revenues in 2011. Globitech recently announced the inauguration of a new wafer fab that will be capable of producing 300,000 6-inch equivalent wafers.

However, SAS will slow expansion at its production facilities for solar-grade silicon wafers in 2011, due to uncertainty over government subsidies and a more cautious market outlook, Lu noted. Sales of solar wafers currently account for 70% of SAS's revenues.

SAS may consider expanding its solar wafer capacity by 300MWp in 2011, if prices are within a reasonable range to sustain the company's gross margins, Lu said. It now has a capacity of between 750MWp and 800MWp.

Market watchers expect SAS' consolidated sales to grow 20-30% in 2011.

SAS accumulated NT$17.92 billion (US$600 million) in consolidated revenues from January through November, up 94.6% from the same period of 2009.