Seoul Semiconductor announced on March 8, 2018 that it has filed three new patent infringement lawsuits, together with its affiliate, Seoul Viosys Co., Ltd. (collectively “Seoul”), against a lighting company and distributors selling products that allegedly infringe Seoul's Acrich patents.

Osram enters a partnership with Nedap, developer and supplier of smart technological solutions, endorsing the DEXAL Technology (Data Exchange for Advanced Lighting). 

LITE-ON Technology today reported February consolidated revenue of NT$13.04 billion, decreased 21% M-o-M and 19% Y/Y, mainly impacted by the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday shutdown. Cumulative sales for January and February totaled NT$29.54 billion.

Before we can see real Micro LED, sized below 100µm, Mini LED (100-250µm) will be rolled out to the market first. People must be curious about which consumer electronics will Mini LED choose and how will it enter those markets.

Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 has concluded and major smartphone vendors at the event have unveiled their smartphone lineup for this year, revealing the development trends in smartphone technology and specifications. According to WitsView, a division of TrendForce, full-screen smartphones will become the trend in market this year. The pursuit of narrower bezels and notch designs has emerged, bringing about solutions of under-display fingerprint sensor and applications combining camera modules and facial recognition.

Samsung Electronics launched its flagship line of 2018 QLED TVs and AV products at the 2018 First Look New York event at the American Stock Exchange building in Manhattan.

Micro LED display developer VueReal announced on March 6 the initial closing of its $10.5 million (USD) Series A funding led by the venture arm of a large Asian company and a leading North American vendor focused on startups with emerging technology.

Silvair announces partnerships with Fulham, McWong International, Murata, Danlers, ERP Power and DG Light to bring to the market a wide range of components and products designed for setting up smart lighting infrastructures in commercial spaces.

Silvair, a pioneer in lighting control technology based on Bluetooth mesh, announces its partnership with Sylvania - a full-spectrum provider of professional and architectural lighting solutions. The collaboration will focus on introducing one of the world’s first Bluetooth mesh certified lighting control systems for professional applications.

Stocks of Taiwanese pattern sapphire substrate (PSS) providers, including Crystalwise, Rigitech Microelectronics, and Acme Electronics, lately witness a noticeable hike.

Apple’s launch of iPhone X has led to a wave of 3D sensing technology, bringing its key component—vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL)—into the spotlight. However, the number of VCSEL suppliers with mass production capacity is very limited due to technical barriers, leading to short supply of VCSELs and thus delaying Android camp’s plan to follow suit. TrendForce estimates the penetration rate of 3D sensing in smartphones will grow from 2.1% in 2017 to 13.1% in 2018, while Apple remains the major adopter.

JBD, a HK-based startup founded in 2015, carried out extensive research and development work to realize inorganic compound semiconductor material based display technology. Near the end of 2017, JBD introduced a new Micro LED technology for microdisplay manufacturing. LEDinside contacted Dr. Fang Ou, CTO, and Dr. Lei Zhang, CEO of JBD, and got the information about the technique in detail.

To galvanize Velodyne’s educational efforts, the company has released “LiDAR 101,” a video showcasing how LiDAR sensors contribute to autonomous technology.

Cree, Inc. has acquired assets of Infineon Technologies AG Radio Frequency (RF) Power Business for approximately € 345 million. The transaction expands the Cree Wolfspeed business unit’s wireless market opportunity.

Taiwan-based LED chip manufacturer Epistar reported a decrease of 8.59% MoM and a growth of 11.52% YoY in its revenue for January 2018. The slow season and the price decline of LED are factored in for the decrease.

Chinese lighting companies MLS Co. and Foshan Electrical and Lighting Co. are seeking financial supports for bidding GE’s asset, Reuters reported. The deal is potentially to amount at USD 1 billion, according to sources in the industry.

Samsung Electronics’ newest QLED TVs will offer an unrivalled viewing experience when they are revealed in New York, USA.

LED vertical integration manufacturer Lextar Electronics registered a revenue of NTD 760 million (USD 25.97 million) for February, down 21.7% MoM. The company attributed the revenue decline to the Chinese New Year holiday and product mix adjustment.

The TFT-LCD market has already become a red ocean. Korea and Japan take the lead in the OLED market. In terms of display technologies, Taiwan should seize the chance to pioneer the development of Micro LED if it wants to secure a competitive share in the global display market in the future.

The rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) is definitely pushing our technology to a new level. Now, we can combine LED lighting with sensing and data analyzing capabilities. All these bring the LED industry opportunities to connect with future technologies.

Philips Lighting announced that in 2017 it reduced its carbon footprint by 20% to 325 kilotonnes CO2 and increased its use of electricity from renewable sources from 67% to 80%. These results highlight the progress the company is making on its Brighter Lives, Better World sustainability program, which was launched in 2016.

Cree announces that it signed a strategic long-term agreement to produce and supply its Wolfspeed silicon carbide (SiC) wafers to Infineon Technologies AG

LED lighting industry has been developing towards smart lighting in recent years in order to avoid involving in price wars. In the era of IoT, lighting is no longer individual product, but a systematical solution. Manufacturers are trying to enhance the added value of lighting equipment by integrating functions like Internet of Things and ambient sensing. International manufacturers such as Philips, Osram, and Opple Lighting, a Chinese maker, have all invested heavily in smart lighting R&D to lay the foundation for future market.

Currently, automotive lighting is reported to be the most promising and most mature application market for OLED lighting. In fact, with the latest integration of LED technology, lighting has become a significant feature of cars with potential value rather than a basic function of vehicles, and OLEDs have the real potential to differentiate themselves from LEDs and can provide new added values. The BMW M4 GTS, introduced in 2016, is the first commercial vehicle to incorporate OLED technology in taillights.

TV makers, especially Samsung and LG Display, are scrambling for changes and quality upgrades for their products. In 2018, the focus of the competition between the two Korean display manufacturers will shift from QLED vs. OLED to Micro LED.

Smart lighting has been developed for years, but products and applications are not really used widely. In 2017, however, smart lighting has entered rapid development. According to the latest data of LEDinside, the global smart lighting market reached close to US$4.6 billion in 2017 with an annual growth rate of 95%. The market size is expected to reach US$13.4 billion in 2020.

Chinese LED maker HC Semitek announced it has signed an investment framework agreement to establish projects of advanced semiconductors and devices in the Yiwu Information and Optoelectronics Hi-Tech Industrial Park. The signing of the agreement was witnessed by the Yiwu Municipal People’s Government.

It’s not a coincidence that multinational lighting conglomerates like Philips Lighting and LEDVANCE have lately been undergoing transformations, including product mix adjustment, more investments in smart lighting, cutting jobs and quitting production related to traditional lighting.

The rise of the Internet of Things has led LED lighting to networked high-value digital lighting. Smart systems can collect information of users and environment, etc., make data analysis, and then adjust devices. Personalized and human-centric smart lighting has become the focus of future industrial development.

Here begins a debate: when Mini LED is ready to enter the smartphone display market, it have to face an oversupply of OLED screens. Does Mini LED still have chances to grow in this space? And for how long can it last?