Highlights this week:

Clinching headlines this week, GE has announced it will be spinning off its new energy businesses including LED, solar energy, electric vehicle and energy storage into a separate entity. The new company will start off with US $1 billion financing and is expected to grow fivefold to US $5 billion in the next five years, according to a Bloomberg report.

Philips Hue announced its new bridge is compatible with Apple Homekit and now supports Siri. It’s possible to ask Siri to turn off the lights now, if you are an iPhone owner.

Everlight and Epistar have been struck by the anemic LED market, with UBS downgrading both companies ratings to hold and sell respectively. Also in the Taiwanese market, Wealth Magazine probes into Yang Hwa Technology’s ugly financial scandal.

Since most of China was on break the last week, there have been few market developments. China's lighting product exports to Argentina has soared during the first half of 2015, but exports to St. Lucia has plunged over the past year.

[Editorial Note: LEDinside team will be on break again this Friday to celebrate Taiwan’s national holiday. We will be back next Monday.]

Editor Recommendations

1. Muggings Increase in Indian City as Lighting Disputes Leaves Areas in the Dark
2. GE’s Metamorphizing Century Old Lighting Business
3. GE to Spin Off LED and Other New Energy Businesses Into Single Startup Company
4. How Yang Hwa Technology Falsified its Financial Statement
5. UBS Downgrades Everlight and Epistar Ratings
6. Australian Trucking Association Shines Light on LED Lighting Safety Gains
7. Acuity Brands and Silver Spring Networks Partner up to Develop Smart City Lights
8. Vietnam’s LED Lighting Market Potential and Government Policies
9. Chinese Lighting Product Exports to Argentina Soar in 1H15, but Exports to St. Lucia Plunges
10. Philips Hue Latest Bridge Adds Apple HomeKit and Siri Support

What’s trending

• Zhaga Consortium Publishes Book 11 for Small LED Spotlight Modules
• City Lights beyond Illumination
• Lighting Science Group: Five Health Benefiting Lighting Applications

Government projects

1. Finnish LED Manufacturer Greenled Oy Lights up Helsinki
2. DOE Publishes GATEWAY Report on Portland's LED Streetlight Conversion
3. DOE Detroit's Street Lighting Conversion Report Show LEDs Cut Energy Consumption by 60%
4. Bangalore to Complete LED Residential Lighting Upgrade by January 2016
5. UK Islands to Roll out LED Lighting Upgrade

Industry News

1. San’an Opto Receives RMB 170 M Subsidy
2. Soraa Promotes George Stringer to Senior Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing
3. Rural Agri Ventures Enters LED Lighting Sector
4. Osram Increases Supoort of Light Test Campaigns in More European Countries
5. LED Engin Adds New RGBW Emitters to LED Lighting Portfolio
6. Macroblock and Hawkeye Solution Platform Partners Showcase HD LED Display in Shanghai

New Products

1. UVLrx Therapeutics Introduces UV LED Therapy Device to EU Consumers
2. MaxLite Introduces Lensed LED Retrofit for Interior Lighting
3. Lumileds' New CoB LEDs Provides Greater Flux for Exterior Luminaires
4. Macron Group Unveils New Programmable LED Driver Series
5. ALW Releases New Moonring Luminaire with Suspended and Surface Mount Models
6. Halco's Expands LED Retrofit Portfolio with Downlight Replaceble Trim Series
7. Orion Unveils New LED High Bay Light for High Lumen Illumination

Innovative Applications

• Bulbing Launches Second Generation Optical Illusion LED Luminaires
• Kirin's Illumicap Lets Users Interact with Light via IoT System

Lighting Projects

1. Cree LED Lighting Delivers Better Light Quality to Bowling Green State University
2. Philips Connected LED Lights Majestically Illuminates Largest Mosque in Europe
3. LG Chem OLED Panels Transformed into Lighting Sculptures at BLACKBODY
4. Latin America’s Tallest Skyscraper Lit up by Clay Paky
5. Sky of Frankfurt Lit by Osram to Mark the 25th Anniversary of Germany's Reunification
6. Philips' Luminous Patterns Customize Interior Ambience with LED Surface Lights