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# China has 70% of a material AI needs, IQE’s CEO warns, Bloomberg reports

**[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments

## Summary

IQE, a Cardiff-based compound semiconductor maker, posted a 40% revenue jump and reaffirmed 30%+ growth guidance for the year, but CEO Jutta Meier warned that China's control of roughly 70% of global indium phosphide supply (per USGS data) is an emerging risk for the whole chip industry. Indium phosphide substrates power the photonics chips used in AI data centre networking. China has been slow-walking export licences since earlier in the year, pushing wafer prices up around 250%, and Meier says the licence risk is already priced into second-half guidance. The piece frames this as a case study in European industrial dependency, noting IQE cannot source its own raw material despite being one of Europe's few compound semiconductor firms of scale, and notes IQE plans to move its listing from AIM to the LSE Main Market.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://thenextweb.com/news/iqe-indium-phosphide-china-export-controls-supply-risk>

## Questions this post answers

### What percentage of global indium phosphide supply does China control?

China controls roughly 70% of the world's indium phosphide supply, according to US Geological Survey data. Indium phosphide substrates are used to make photonics chips that generate and amplify light signals for data movement inside AI data centres, making this concentration a supply risk for the wider semiconductor industry as Chinese export licensing has tightened.

_Track how supply chain concentration in materials like indium phosphide reshapes AI infrastructure sourcing decisions on daily.dev._

### Why is indium phosphide important for AI data centres?

Indium phosphide is the substrate material behind photonics chips, which generate and amplify the light signals that move data around AI data centres. Demand for these chips is rising faster than supply, and photonics has overtaken wireless to become the largest segment of business for at least one major supplier, IQE, as AI infrastructure buildout accelerates.

_Engineers weighing AI infrastructure supply risk can follow material and chip shortage coverage on daily.dev._

### How much did indium phosphide wafer prices rise after China tightened export checks?

Wafer prices rose around 250% after China began slow-walking indium phosphide export licences, with the price increase visible months before any company disclosed the risk publicly. IQE's CEO later confirmed export licence risk was already factored into the company's second-half guidance, three months after the price spike was first reported.

_Anyone deciding how to hedge against supply chain shocks can follow pricing signals like these on daily.dev._

## Similar posts on daily.dev

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- [China tightens indium phosphide checks as AI demand climbs](https://daily.dev/posts/china-tightens-indium-phosphide-checks-as-ai-demand-climbs-oxcnggub8) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments
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