City authorities in American city Kinston, North Carolina are planning to swap all traditional streetlights with LEDs, which is expected to cut energy consumption, improve security and save money, reported Kinston.com.

The Luxurious Travel ("Luxurious Travel" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive Share Exchange Agreement to acquire all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of US Lighting Group ("US Lighting Group"), an independent designer and manufacturer of patent-pending, transformer less, LED lighting technologies.

Rubicon Technology, a leading provider of sapphire substrates and products to the LED, optical and semiconductor industries, today announced that it has appointed a new independent director, Timothy Brog, President of Locksmith Capital, to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. With the addition of Brog, the Board expands to six members, five of whom are independent.

AIXTRON, a worldwide leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, announced today that Nanchang Kingsoon, a recently founded Chinese manufacturer of optoelectronic devices, has ordered multiple MOCVD cluster tools to expand manufacturing capacities in the area of gallium arsenide-based red, orange and yellow (ROY) LEDs and solar cells. All systems will be delivered in the course of the year.

The Pakistani government might include financial incentives for LED lights and solar panels in its annual federal budget 2016-2017, as the government aims to slash energy consumption while turning to alternative energy sources, according to a report by local media Business Recorder.

Pacific Crest Securities has highlighted several companies that might benefit from Apple’s decision to use OLED displays in next year’s iPhones, according to a report from Investor Business Daily.

An almost incomparable depth of experience in terms of light, successful products with strong brands and a high-impact sales team – these are the strengths the company of Ledvance will be focusing on from 1st July 2016. This is the day on which the current Osram Lamps business division will become legally independent and will therefore become Ledvance GmbH.

A major investment in new, hi-tech LED street lighting across Renfrewshire has got underway in Paisley.

India’s affordable LED lighting for all government initiative, Ujala Scheme, is now being rolled out in the country’s westernmost state Gujarat, according to a report from The Financial Express.

Certain Taiwanese financial institutes are starting to tighten their credit policies on three industries that have been affected by intense market competition from China, including LED, solar energy and displays, reported UDN recently.

Chinese and Belgium government agencies signed a LED lighting partnership agreement in Hasselt, capital of Limburg province in east Belgium on Tuesday, reported Xinhua.

In a letter issued by Aixtron, it assured clients that it would remain a German company, protect its patents, and highlighted the benefits the potential acquisition deal with Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund (FGC) would have on its future business strategy.

Aixtron’s announcement last Friday that is in talks with Chinese investment group Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund (GCI)’s German subsidiary has attracted criticism from one of the group’s largest shareholder Argonaut Capital, according to aFinancial Times report.

Taiwanese LED EPI-wafer manufacturer Epistar has vehemently denied claims made by local media Apple Daily that it had laid off more than 100 employees following the shut down of its subsidiary FOREPI’s EPI-wafer fab.

Orion Energy Systems, a leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance, energy-efficient retrofit lighting platforms, announced a US $2.4 million retrofit lighting project with a global Fortune 50 retailer due to its ability to work with channel partners to deliver a brand new, custom product in less than a month. The project marks the initial phase of what is expected to be a broader opportunity for both retrofit lighting and new construction.

The sales of Aixtron to a Chinese investor last Friday sparked market rumors, with some industry insiders over interpreting and speculating San’an Opto is involved in the acquisition. LEDinside takes a look into this particular market rumor.

Aixtron and Grand Chip Investment GmbH (“Grand Chip Investment”), a 100% indirect subsidiary of Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund LP (“FGC”), have today entered into an agreement to take over AIXTRON. Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund LP is a Chinese investment fund; 51% of which is held by the Chinese business man Zhendong Liu and 49% by Xiamen Bohao Investment Ltd. 

The Silicon Valley technology leader disrupted the flat panel display industry when it launched a breakthrough equipment solution to mass-produce flexible Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs). Flexible OLED technology gives limitless stretch to new product design innovation by liberating panel manufacturers from the constraints of glass substrates. It enables ultra-thin, feather-light displays that are bendable, roll-able, and even fold-able. Kateeva’s solution, known as the YIELDjet™ platform, leverages inkjet printing with novel innovations to perform critical steps in the OLED manufacturing process

Peter Scott, CEO of Fern-Howard Lighting, was welcomed as Lighting Industry Association (LIA) President by departing President, Alasdair McRury, Managing Director of Holophane Europe during the LIA’s Annual Lunch held on May10, 2016.

Spartanburg City Council on Monday night approved design concepts for a US $1 million public art project that will light up neighborhoods later this year.  The funding is provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies. In 2015, the City of Spartanburg was selected as one of four cities nationwide to take part in Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge, a new program to support temporary public art projects that celebrate creativity, enhance urban identity, encourage public-private partnerships, and drive economic development.

Japanese manufacturer Dai Nippon Printing will triple the output of evaporation masks, a core component in OLED panel production, to take advantage of estimated growth demands from smartphone panel applications and others, reported Nikkei.

Authorities of City of Waterloo in Canada will upgrade its current LED streetlights to smart LED streetlights adding features of analyzing traffic conditions, detecting snowfall and connecting to gas and water utility meters, reported Waterloo Chronicle.

The City of West Jordan in Utah, U.S., is replacing approximately 5,000 traditional streetlights with LED (light emitting diode) lights, which provide improved illumination at a reduced operating cost – and shrink the city’s carbon footprint. 

Digital Lumens, the market leader in intelligent lighting systems, announced that it has partnered with Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management and automation. The partnership enables Schneider Electric customers to leverage the power of the Internet of Things (IoT) across a variety of building environments via Digital Lumens’ sensor-based connected lighting and next-generation analytics suite.

RayVio, an advanced UVC LED vendor, announced that it has closed new funding rounds of in total $26 million led by IPV Capital and Tsing Capital. RayVio will use the new funding to scale production to meet global consumer demand for protection against germs in water and environments. RayVio’s powerful Ultraviolet (UV) LED technology enables compelling new health and hygiene products, such as point-of-use water disinfection, and creates new markets and revenue streams for original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partners around the world.

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science and Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy have awarded three Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants targeting advances in solid-state lighting (SSL) technology. These Phase I grants will explore the technical merit and commercial potential of different innovative concepts or technologies that are expected to contribute to the achievement of the price and performance goals described in DOE’s SSL R&D Plan.

Philips has decided on the price for its initial public offering for its lighting unit recently, and estimates the spinoff could raise between EUR 694 million and EUR 844 million (US $785 million to US$ 954 million), reported Wall Street Journal.

DOE recently announced two lab funding opportunities, including the DOE’s Technologist in Residence program and The Manufacturing Innovation through Energy and Commerce pilot project.

StrongLED Lighting Systems, a company registered in Cayman Islands, but with operations based in Taiwan and China is rumored to have acquired Osram’s outsurce orders, reported Taiwanese media Commercial Times.

An electronic manufacturer in China recently sued Chinese LED luminaire manufacturer Opple Lighting for trademark infringement, according to a report from Fawan, a Chinese media specializing in legal news.