The Optical Society (OSA) has announced that Dr. Gregory Quarles has joined The Optical Society as Chief Scientist. In this position, Dr. Quarles is responsible for the scientific infrastructure of the society. This includes content development for OSA incubators, annual meetings and the establishment of partnerships with research laboratories around the world. Quarles is a globally recognized leader for his strategic partnerships with the federal government, industry and academia, as well as his innovative work in the progression of global materials research, specifically developing new laser devices for medical, military and industrial applications.

Shanghai Feilo Acoustics and The Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) recently signed a termination agreement that ended the international bank’s role as the sole financial consultant for the Chinese LED luminaire company’s plan to acquire Osram’s lighting business.

Veeco Instruments announced  William (Bill) J. Miller, Ph.D. has been promoted to President, effective immediately.  In his new role, Dr. Miller will have direct responsibility over all of Veeco’s business units and central R&D.  He will also oversee global manufacturing operations, a responsibility he assumed in 2015.

Demand for lighting equipment jumped 4.4% between the second and third quarters of 2015 to achieve what the National Lighting Bureau hails as “the best quarterly performance since the second quarter of 2008.” The dramatic improvement – a 4.8% year-over-year gain – was revealed by data developed by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) for the NEMA Lighting-Systems Index (LSI). According to NLB Executive Director John Bachner, “Three months ago we said that ‘lighting-equipment demand is moving in the right direction’ and “We’re optimistic that the next report will show continued growth over the third quarter.’ Our optimism has been justified; in fact, it has been more than justified. Lighting’s back!”

James “Jim” Yorgey, P.E., LC, CTS, Lutron Electronics Company’s technical-applications manager, has been re-elected chair of the National Lighting Bureau, the independent, not-for-profit, lighting-education foundation sponsored by professional societies, trade associations, manufacturers, utilities, and agencies of the U.S. government.

The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Taiwan and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group have established a joint fund to support the development of laser technology in Taiwan, and assist local companies brushless DC motor controlled IC modules enter the large Japanese vendors supply chain.

HC Semitek announced recently that it would be investing in total RMB 6 billion (US $915,625) in the construction of a new LED epiwafer, chip and production line in Yiwu Industrial Park, according to a report from Chinese-language China Securities.

Chinese LED manufacturers San’an Opto and Silan Microelectronics both announced receiving massive subsidies from the local government recently.

Moso Power announced Monday that the company and its wholly- owned subsidiary Shenzhen Moso Electric received RMB 8.5 million (US $1.3 million) subsidies from the government.

Acuity Brands  announced it has acquired for cash certain assets, including all proprietary technology and other intellectual property, of GeoMetri, LLC, a provider of a software and services platform for mapping, navigation and analytics.

Intense competition in the LED market will spur the LED market into a new phase, and with Nichia’s white LED patents expiring in 2017, Taiwanese LED chip maker Genesis Photonics Inc. (GPI) is focusing on the emerging flip chip LED and CSP LED market, said the company Chairman David Chung in a recent interview with China Post.

Colorado State University and Philips Lighting have forged a long-term collaborative partnership by signing an agreement to create a state-of-the-art LED-lighted education, research and training horticulture facility at CSU.

NEMA's Electroindustry Business Conditions Index (EBCI) for current conditions in North America fell to 41.2 in December as a larger share of panelists reported conditions deteriorated than reported they improved. The December reading represented a substantial decline from November's reading of 58.3. Meanwhile, the EBCI for future North American conditions slipped to 52.9 in December from 55.6 in November.

In a recent interview with German magazine Manager Magazin, Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser affirmed he was surprised by Osram’s R&D investment plans, and noted the company had not sold a single share it had in Osram.

 A GBP17.5 million (US $25.75 million) investment by UK Green Investment Bank and Sustainable Development Capital Limited is UK’s largest ever fully-funded LED lighting retrofit project. About 90,000 new lights to be installed across Santander’s entire UK estate of 800 branches and 14 office buildings. The project will generate energy savings of more than 50% and cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 7,000 tonnes annually.

The Bangkok Post followed with an update of findings from The Office of the Ombudsman pointing that the Thailand capital’s city hall extravagant lighting show was financed using budget allocated for next year.

Yankon Lighting announced on December 29 that the company received subsidies from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) for “Industrial upgrade to smart manufacturing and IoT+ mobile support security project—Secured chip improvement and application.”

HC Semitek announced on Dec. 28, 2015 that the board of directors discussed with local government about large investment valuing RMB $5 billion (US $770 million) in the next three to five years.

A recent report from Navigant Research examines the global market for commercial building lighting controls, including forecasts for unit shipments and revenue, segmented by equipment type, building type, construction type, technology, and region, through 2024.

Thailand capital Bangkok’s large city hall LED lighting upgrade project has attracted criticism from netizens, who have questioned city officials’ decision to spend emergency budget on 5 million LED bulbs, reported Thai Visa News.

The oversupply situation in the LED industry this year has urged large Korean LED companies to size down, according to a Money DJ report by citing Korean media ETNews.

Siemens has been indiscreet about its dissatisfaction with Osram’s R&D strategy recently. A report from German media Handelsbatt on Monday pointed out the lighting company’s largest shareholder intends to sell its 17% stake to an Asian buyer, just one week after Siemens announced it was unsupportive of Osram new business strategy.

Osram’s largest shareholder Siemens might be considering selling its 17% stake in the company, reported Reuters.Citing a report from leading German newspaper Handelsblatt, a source in the industry revealed Siemens might sell its stake in Osram to an Asian manufacturer. No further details were offered about the potential Asian candidate.

The LED lighting industry outlook for invisible LED business opportunities has been increasingly optimistic, with many international and Taiwanese companies jumping in this new blue sea market. Japanese, Korean, European and American manufacturers are all developing UV LEDs for curing, sterilization, medical, water and air purification systems. Security, retina recognition markets that require IR LED, are also presenting new business and technology opportunities for LED companies specializing in these fields.

In response to partly misleading media reports ‒ most recently in the Mittelbayrische Zeitung under the headline "Siemens knew" ‒ regarding the involvement of Siemens in the planned strategic realignment of Osram AG, Siemens comments as follows:

Indian consumers are embracing the LED replacement wave, and have swapped more than 10 million traditional and CFL bulbs with LEDs within the last month, but some states have been delaying LED streetlight upgrades ahead of the upcoming elections, reported Indian media.

Seven Canadian climate entrepreneurs will be going into 2016 with a significant financial lift from a new grant program being offered by Shell Canada in collaboration with Canadian Geographic. 

Having survived oversupply in the LED industry, and endured a harsh winter, listed LED manufacturers have been leading the way in mergers and acquisitions in 2015. Listed companies mergers grew significantly this year to become a major trend on the market. Listed companies acquisitions and trade value have grown exponentially, reflecting features of listed companies merging with smaller companies. More than 37 merger deals were negotiated as of October 2015, and have continued to grow.

Orion Energy Systems, a leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance, energy-efficient retrofit lighting platforms, today announced a multi-billion dollar global retailer with over 575 warehouse club operations has selected Orion LED retrofit lighting as the spec for its retail stores and corporate offices.

Veeco Instruments announced today that it has received multiple orders from a leading foundry in Asia for its Precision Surface Processing (PSP) WaferStorm™ system.  The WaferStorm platform provides wafer processing solutions for advanced packaging applications.