The LED industry has been on a rollercoaster ride this week. Starting off with the bad news, U.S. MOCVD manufacturer GTAT dropped a bomb on the financial market, with its abrupt bankruptcy announcement on Monday. Investors were scrambling to retain any value in their investments as stock prices tumbled more than 92% to a sad US $0.8 per share. Recent reports that the company CEO Thomas Gutierrez sold out a majority of stocks prior to the launch of the iPhone 6, has put the company in a bad light of susceptible insider trading.

On a good note this week, the Nobel Prize of Physics was awarded to the Japanese trio Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura for their work in blue LEDs which finally enabled the achievement of white light. The Nobel Committee’s decision, however, left the early LED inventor Professor Nick Holonyak Jr. feeling overlooked for his pioneer work in red LED technology and somewhat discontent. For more please see below:

(Editor’s Note: LEDinside weekly pick is issued one day earlier this week because of the upcoming national holiday in Taiwan on Friday.)

[Special] GTAT bankruptcy filing and impact

1. [Breaking News] GT Advanced Technologies Files Bankruptcy
2. GTAT Insolvency Marks Uncertain Future for Sapphire Cover Glass
3. Strained Relations with Apple Sinks GTAT
4. Is Apple Set to Acquire GTAT?
5. GTAT CEO Sells out Huge Chunk of Shares Before iPhone 6 Debut
6. Tera Xtal Technology Remains Positive About Retaining GTAT Compensation
7. Shareholder Rights Law Firm Johnson & Weaver Launches Investigation of GTAT

Other Editor Recommendations

1. Japanese Blue LED Inventors Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics 2014
2. Tera Xtel Sues Apple for Sapphire Camera Lens Patent Infringement
3. Nobel Prize Committee Leaves LED Inventor Feeling Snubbed
4. Panasonic Eyes Aviation Lighting Market
5. Philips: Lighting Can Affect Whether You Are a Morning or Evening Person
6. GE Lighting and AgiLight Resolve Patent Infringement Lawsuit
7. Osram and Toyoda Gosei Extend LED Patent License Agreement
8. CEA-LETI: Smartphone Support Crucial to Li-Fi Adoption
9. Kaneka Develops OLED Panels with Lifespan on Par with LEDs
10. Cree Announces Preliminary Financial Results for 1Q15

What’s Trending

• Thiruvananthapuram LED Streetlight Project in Limbo
• New LED Streetlights Leaves Dark Spots in New Orleans Neighborhood

Industry News

1. iPhone 6 Sales Drive Up Tera Xtal Revenue Last Month
2. Soraa Founder Shuji Nakamura Wins Nobel Prize in Physics
3. Lighting Science Appoints New COO
4. Lighting Science Group Corporation Awarded 40th Patent for 2014
5. Molecular Glasses Files Novel NONcrystallizable™ Organic Semiconductors Patents for OLED Applications
6. Advantek Expands LED Packaging with Acquisition of Tempo Electronics Surftape® Product Line
7. MaxLite Expands Outdoor Lighting with LED Adjustable Wall Packs and Bullet Flood Lights
8. Taiwan Manufacturers Present Green Solutions at CEATEC JAPAN

New Products

1. Luminus Announces 5 Year Warranty on XNOVA Chip-On-Board LED Arrays
2. Soraa Raises the Bar on MR16 LED Lamp Performance
3. Wagner® Lighting Introduces LED Mini Lamps
4. GPE Ardenghi Srl Introduces New Screen Printer With UV LED Curing From Phoseon Technology
5. INSTEON Announces LED Light Bulbs for European Connected Home and Workplace Markets

Lighting Projects

• Philips Lumec: Interview with Lighting Designer Barbara Horton