Eric Rondolat, CEO of Philips Lighting, talked briefly about the lighting market in the US during an interview with CNBC.

UK-based LED wholesaler Mirrorstone Lighting demonstrated an innovative infrared panel heater able to save energy and replace traditional heating systems in the households in the UK.

International Lighting-Design company Klaasen Lighting Design (KLD), which has offices in Singapore, Perth, Shanghai and Jakarta, has entered into a partnership agreement with US based data platform provider Gooee.

Last year, Taiwanese LED packaging company EVERLIGHT registered a lukewarm annual earnings with a YoY decline of 6.6%. In face of looming threats from Chinese competitors, EVERLIGHT adjusts its product mix in hope to push up its revenue in 2018.

Veeco Instruments Inc. announced that EXALOS has ordered a Propel GaN Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) System for the research and development of high-performance broadband superluminescent light emitting diodes (SLEDs). EXALOS, headquartered in Switzerland, is expected to receive the Propel system in the third quarter of 2018.

KAIST researchers have discovered a technology that enhances the efficiency of Quantum Dot LEDs.

A KAIST research team led by Professor Keon Jae Lee from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Professor Daesoo Kim from the Department of Biological Sciences has developed flexible vertical micro LEDs (f-VLEDs) using anisotropic conductive film (ACF)-based transfer and interconnection technology. The team also succeeded in controlling animal behavior via optogenetic stimulation of the f-VLEDs.

Future Farm Technologies Inc. updated that its LED Canada division has made significant progress in the past quarter.

Samsung Display and Air Products has signed new long-term contracts to supply gaseous nitrogen and oxygen, and liquid argon to Samsung's Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) manufacturing complex in Tangjeong, South Korea.

Universal Display Corporation announced that the Company and display manufacturer Sharp have entered into an extended and updated evaluation agreement.

A group of scientists found a method to grow wheat twice as fast as the speed using standard approaches. This method can help feed the rapidly-growing population worldwide.

Finance of Taiwanese LED giant Epistar saw a noticeable recuperation last year. The market this year anticipates Mini LED, one of Epistar’s new lineup, to generate a revenue for the company in 2H18.

Since Apple joined to share some of the OLED supply for its iPhone X in 2017, the shortage of OLED panels has become intensified. Because of the agreement Apple signed with the exclusive supplier Samsung, Apple always stays in the list as the top priority that a large proportion of the OLED supply goes to. Other smartphone manufacturers struggle as they also want to use OLED panels for their products but the supply is simply not enough. Thus, they, the Chinese smartphone brands in particular, turned to Mini LED.

A series of acts of Samsung developing Micro LED has been gradually unveiled. From the rumor about its investment in Taiwan-based Micro LED startup PlayNitride to the recent demonstration of its gigantic Micro LED modular TV The Wall at CES 2018, they more or less suggest Samsung’s attempt to rival other display makers with the Micro LED technology.

Apple has reportedly been granted a patent covering an optical system featuring near infrared technology that can be used for fields such as medical diagnosis and night vision.  

Japan Display Inc. (JDI) announced that it has developed a transparent glass-based capacitive fingerprint sensor by applying the company's capacitive multi-touch technology used in its other liquid crystal displays (LCDs). JDI plans to start commercial shipments within its 2018 fiscal year, which ends March of 2019.

Philips Lighting announced on January 10 that it was letting go of a portion of the employees at its R&D laboratory in Eindhoven, reported DutchNews.nl.

WitsView, a division of TrendForce, reports that global LCD TV panel shipments increased quarter by quarter in 2017. 1H17 showed less momentum for holiday sales due to the high prices, but shipments rebounded in 2H17 as the prices declined and TV makers prepared for the year-end sales. Moreover, the new production capacities of BOE’s Gen 8.5 fab in Fuqing and HKC’s Gen 8.6 fab in Chongqing have been focusing on middle-size TV panels (43" and 32" respectively), bringing the annual shipments beyond expectation to 263.83 million pieces, an increase of 1.3% compared with 2016.

LEDVANCE stated on January 11 that it will shut down two facilities producing traditional lighting products and it is looking to complete the closing by December 2018, as EdisonReport carried in an article.

Sumitomo Chemical has reportedly phased out its LED sapphire substrate business. SSLM, a South Korean sapphire wafer joint venture funded by Sumitomo Chemical and Samsung, stopped manufacturing sapphire substrates and Samsung also claimed to have halted investments in the company, reported The Nihon Keizai Shinbun.

VLNComm, a US-basesd firm focusing on the development of bi-directional Li-Fi, has developed the fastest, most affordable and most innovative Li-Fi LED lighting panel in the industry. Introduced and successfully demonstrated before to more than 500 people at CES 2018, the LumiNex panel is capable of 108Mbps download speeds and when coupled with the LumiStick 2, 53Mbps upload speeds. Coverage is 516 square feet and includes support for 15 users simultaneously all through the use of industry standard white LEDs.

Philips Lighting is expanding its Friends of Hue program to include several leading North American LED lighting luminaire manufacturers: Access Lighting, Craftmade, ELK and ET2. The Friends of Hue partnership unites decorative lighting design with all the benefits of Philips Hue, enabling consumers to enjoy a greater choice of luminaires to enhance the look of their homes. Products by the respective partners are expected to launch in North America in Q1 and Q2 2018.

Retro LED filament bulbs are trending from New York to London and installed at locations from retro bars, vogue restaurants, to households as intricate decorative lighting. Their appearances look similar to traditional incandescent lamps, but their light is softer. LEDfilament bulbs are not only used for decoration, but they also save energy and reduce carbon emission.

Walmart announced results of an extensive lighting program with Current, powered by GE at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show. As part of an ongoing commitment to energy efficiency, Walmart has now installed more than 1.5 million LED (light emitting diode) fixtures across more than 6,000 stores, parking lots, distribution centers and corporate offices in ten countries.

Micro LED is an enticing display technology considerably future-proof yet hard to fully realize. All already-known challenges are basically induced by three key factors: the size, material, and number of LED chips. The industry refers to a LED chip as a Micro LED chip when its size is below 100μm—almost as tiny as the diameter of human hair. Different colors of Micro LEDs are made with different materials. Some companies attempt to develop a solution for chips of all colors, while the others invent several approaches to transfer, bond, and drive Micro LEDs produced with different compounds. What about the Number of Micro LEDs used for a display, let’s say, a TV, for example? It’s going to be single- to double-digit millions of them.

Human Centric Lighting will be the next major area of opportunity for the global lighting and building design industries now that energy saving is regarded as ubiquitous, according to lighting technology specialist amBX.

To be fair, none of the products launched in 2017 can arouse such a heated discussion as the iPhone X did. Its futuristic appearance, including the notch at the top of its OLED screen, attracted a lot of attention. Apart from that, the public also anticipated it to launch Apple Watch Series 3 featuring a Micro LED display but it did not happen.

EVERLIGHT ELECTRONICS will be introducing new LED components for automotive, lighting, signage, infrared applications in LED Tech Japan (East Hall 4 E36-48). Everyone is welcome to experience total solutions from EVERLIGHT.   

At this year’s North American International Auto Show’s AutoMobili-D 2018, Osram Opto Semiconductors is demonstrating how its high-power infrared pulse lasers are helping speed the adoption of autonomous vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). 

Veeco Instruments announced that OSRAM Opto Semiconductors GmbH has ordered a multi-reactor Propel High Volume Manufacturing (HVM) Gallium Nitride (GaN) Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) System.