Leyard announced recently it will acquire Guangzhou Leafun Culture Science and Technology and Glux Visual Effect Tech. Leyard is to acquire 100% of Guangzhou Leafun Culture Science and Technology’s shares with cash and 99% of Glux Visual Effect Tech shares will be transacted from 10 company investors. Leyard will start fundraising for the acquisition.

Noribachi, a leading U.S.-based custom LED manufacturer and Samsung Electronics, a global leader in advanced component solutions, announced establishment of a major partnership. This broad partnership will draw upon the technology and engineering strengths of each company to spark innovation in an initial step toward redefining the U.S. LED lighting industry.

After conveying disappointing results for the first-quarter of 2015, when lighting-equipment demand was 3.6% below fourth-quarter 2014 demand, the latest NEMA Lighting-Systems Index (LSI) results show that a modest rebound occurred during 2015’s second-quarter: Demand was up 0.4% over first-quarter performance and 2.2% above second-quarter 2014 performance. “While quarter-over-quarter performance may not be something to ‘write home about,’” said National Lighting Bureau Executive Director John Bachner, “year-over-year results are definitely encouraging and quarter-over-quarter results show that lighting-equipment demand is moving in the right direction. We’re optimistic that the next report will show continued growth over the third quarter.”

Merck, a leading company for innovative and top-quality high-tech products in the healthcare, life science and performance materials sectors, announced today that it has entered into a license agreement with Tridonic Jennersdorf  (Tridonic) covering silicate phosphors for use in white light LEDs.

Dialog Semiconductor (XTRA: DLG) and Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) announced today that Dialog has agreed to acquire Atmel in a cash and stock transaction for total consideration of approximately $4.6 billion. The acquisition creates a global leader in both Power Management (2) and Embedded Processing solutions. The transaction results in a fast growing and innovative powerhouse, supporting Mobile Power, IoT and Automotive customers. The combined company will address an attractive, fast growing market opportunity of approximately $20 billion by 2019.

Leading LED chip manufacturer Epistar’s has raised the number of job cuts from the previously announced 65 to about 180, reported UDN.

Taiwanese LED manufacturers revenue performance continued to wane in August, according to Pingan Securities. Revenue performances downed both annually and on a monthly basis, according to statistics released by Taiwanese companies.

Demand for lighting equipment, as measured by NEMA’s Lighting Systems Shipments Index, increased by 2.2% year-over-year (y/y) and by 0.4% quarter-to-quarter during second quarter of 2015. The increase was driven by emergency lighting and fixtures which gained ground on a year-over-year basis while the ballast and lamp–large and miniature–components offset these gains with year-over-year declines.

Indonesia is situated in Southeast Asia and is located on the Equator. It is close to Papua New Guinea, East Timor and borders Malaysia. Geolocation wise the world’s largest archipelago is also an ocean across from Thailand, Singapore, Philippines and Australia. With a population of 240 million people scattered across 18,307 islands, Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world following China, India, and U.S. Annual economic growth rates peaked to 6.3% over the past few years indicating it is a country that holds great market potential.

Acuity Brands  announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Acuity Brands Lighting, completed the previously announced acquisition of Distech Controls Inc., a leading provider of building automation and energy management solutions that allow for the seamless integration of lighting, HVAC, access control, closed circuit television, and related systems.  Acuity Brands Lighting acquired all of the outstanding capital stock of Distech Controls for approximately 318 million Canadian dollars. 

The Indian government intends to slash LED bulb retail prices from the average retail price of INR 300 (US $4.52) to INR 44 (US$ 0.66) under its DELP scheme, reported Times of India.

On Sep. 10, MLS announced that the company will spend RMB$ 180 million (US$ 278.2 million) to purchase stock in Kaistar Lighting with private fund, acquiring 10.91% of Kaistar’s shares.

In general, LED Manufacturers performed quite well over the past eight months in 2015. But competition among LED manufacturers intensified through price wars, patent disputes and fighting over distribution channel were overwhelming. A summary of recent lawsuits among these manufacturers as following:

Osram announced Wednesday it would be selling its 13.5% stake in Foshan Electrical and Lighting (Foshan Lighting) to a subsidiary of Guangdong Rising Assets Management (GRAM) for more than EUR 350 million (US $392.51 million).

Osram’s transformation is making further progress: the company has agreed to sell its 13.5% stake in the Chinese company Foshan Electrical and Lighting (Felco) to a subsidiary of Guangdong Rising Assets Management With this move, Osram will dispose of a non-strategic investment. The agreed selling price is more than EUR 350 million (US $392.51 million), which corresponds to a premium of more than 30% over the current share price. Osram expects to have a pre-tax gain of around EUR 300 million from the transaction, which is expected to be booked in fiscal 2016.

The Indian government should make manufacturing standards for LED lights applied in Prakash Path Yojana (PPY) mandatory, The Economics Times cited a Philips spokesperson saying.

Reliance Energy backed Indian power company BSES discoms sold some 1.6 million LED bulbs in Indian metropolitan New Delhi over the last three months as part of its energy conservation promotion, reported The Economic Times.

Low demand in laptop and TV backlight worldwide and LED bulb price  wars led by major LED manufacturers, most Taiwanese LED manufacturers incurred revenue losses during first half of 2015.

Highlights this week: Chinese manufacturer tests different market strategy by focusing on niche market. Cree rebrands two business as Wolfspeed with strategy changes. Researchers creates less expensive LED with laser- like performance Panasonic to shot down two LED factories soon following its plants shut down in Indonesia.

TOGGLED®, developer and producer of next-generation solid-state lighting technology and named in the Top 25 Most Innovative Companies in South East Michigan by Crain's Detroit, reported today the addition of Ampco Lighting Ltd. to its rapidly expanding Licensing Program.

Cree, a leader in silicon carbide (SiC) power products and gallium nitride (GaN) radio frequency (RF) devices, today announced that Wolfspeed is the new name for the Power and RF division of Cree. The company announced in May that it would separate the business into a standalone company.

Panasonic aims to increase its European lighting revenue in 2018, reported Kyodo News.

Plessey announced UK’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF) has officially granted £6.7 million (US $10.26 million) towards the expansion of the Plessey LED manufacturing facility in Plymouth, England. 

Philips Lighting CEO Eric Rondolat recently met with India Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the biannual “key market visit” to discuss smart cities, smart lighting and solar lighting opportunities in Indian metropolitans, reported LiveMint.

Originally a battery maker, Indian manufacturer Eveready is transiting into the LED lighting market recently with the aim of acquiring at least 10% market shares, according to a Business Standard report.

The French government is planning to give away one million LED bulbs to low income families in the country, reported French media The Connexion.

Ripple effects from volatile Chinese stock market has directly impacted LED capital market, shaking many companies’ management structures. Up to 18 managers in listed LED manufacturers have resigned as of Aug. 25, 2015, nearly double the number of senior managers that retired in 2014.

As of Aug. 21, 2015, 14 Chinese manufacturers have released their financial results for the first half of 2015. Some have become more profitable, while others have continued to incur heavy losses. LEDinside takes a closer look into these companies financial performance.

Globalized competition is inevitable in the LED industry with an increasing number of overseas LED companies entering Chinese market and vice versa.

Illumitex, maker of technologically advanced LED grow lights, today announced an initiative to help innovative indoor growers to secure a portion of a $50M grant fund available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.