Cree, Inc. announced revenue of $147.6 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2009, ended Dec. 28, 2008. This represents a 24% increase compared to revenue of $119.0 million reported for the second quarter of fiscal 2008 and a 5% increase compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2009. Revenue included $5.6 million in patent licensing fees which were not factored into previously announced targets.

Epistar Corp., a leading LED chipmaker in Taiwan, estimates a 38% drop in December 2008 revenues to about NT$400 million, according to a recent report. Epistar had revenues of NT$647.9 million in November 2008, down 28.3% from NT$903.7 million in October, and down 36.43% compared with last year. The company's accumulated revenues from January to November were NT$9.86 billion, up 5% compared with last year, according to data from the Taiwan Stock Exchange.  

Recently, AIXTRON AG, a leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, announced the company’s financial results for the first nine months of 2008.

Cree Inc. has announced revenue of $140.4M for its fiscal 1Q09, ended September 28, 2008. This represents a 24% increase over revenue of $113.4M in 1Q08 and a 3% increase over 4Q08 revenue.

It’s reported that Lightscape Technologies Inc., an operator of outdoor LED billboards and provider of LED solutions, reported financial results on August 14 for the fiscal first quarter ending June 30, 2008.

Recently, Cree Inc. has announced revenue of $493.3M for FY08, representing a 25% increase over FY 07, citing XLamp sales growth and increasing demand for HB-LEDs as major drivers. 

It's reported that semiconductor manufacturing equipment vendor Aixtron has achieved double-digit revenue growth in its Q2, despite currency and macro-economic headwind,

Recently, Cree, Inc. announced the opening of the Cree Shenzhen Engineering Center in Shenzhen, China. This technical education center is dedicated to training lighting product designers and manufacturers in best practices for LED lighting product design and construction.

According to company sources, the Taiwan-based Genesis Photonics Inc., a upstream supplier of epitaxial wafers for LED, scored EPS of NT$1.67 in the second quarter of 2008, with a gross profit rate of 45%, as No. 1 supplier of this kind on the island.

According to company sources, Youngtek Electronics (YTEC), Taiwan LED sorting and semiconductor testing company, reported record second quarter revenues of NT$610.5 millions, up 30.2% compared to the first quarter.

In China, A government crackdown on white-box handset shipments has affected LED shipments from LED packaging company Harvatek since the beginning of 2008, with the effect becoming increasingly worse, according to industry sources.In the fourth quarter of 2007, revenues from China's white-box market accounted for 27% of Harvatek's revenues. In the first quarter of 2008, that proportion fell to 15% and will drop to 5-10% this quarter, the sources noted. For all of 2007, 25% of Harvatek's revenues came from China's white-box market.

According to market sources, Taiwan LED packaging companyLedtech Electronics has received LED light bar orders for 200 Taiwan convenience stores. Throughout the convenience store chain, over the next 3-4 years, a total of 2,880 refrigerator lighting units will be replace to LED light bars. Ledtech won the first round of orders, while rivals including Coretronic, Zenitron and Advanced Optoelectronic Technology (AOT) are competing to enter the supply stream.

LED International Holdings Ltd. said Sino Boost International Holdings Ltd. has agreed to subscribe for 29.69 million shares in the LED display and lighting company at 1 pence each, for a total consideration of 296,921 pounds. With the subscription, Sino Boost International is boosting its stake to in the AIM-listed company 16.67 percent.

AXT, a manufacturer of compound semiconductor substrates, announced that Robert G. Ochrym, Vice President of Business Development, will present at the American Technology Research 2008 LED Technology Investment Forum at the New York Palace Hotel in New York, NY on Thursday, May 15th, at 9:30 a.m. ET. Ochrym will address the requirements and outlook of gallium arsenide (GaAs) semi-conducting substrates for the LED industry. A copy of his presentation is available on AXT's website, the company noted in a release.

Cree, Inc., a market-leading innovator of lighting-class LEDs, LED lighting retrofit solutions, and semiconductor solutions for backlighting, wireless and power applications, today announced revenue of $125.0 million for its fiscal third quarter ended March 30, 2008. This represents a 5% increase compared to the fiscal second quarter of 2008 and a 38% increase compared to revenue of $90.3 million reported for the third fiscal quarter last year.

Shares of Cree fell in after-hours trading Tuesday after the company released fiscal third quarter earnings and a fourth quarter outlook that failed to meet analysts projections. Durham-based Cree (Nadsaq: CREE), which sells products for light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, said net income was $5.7 million, or 6 cents a share, in the quarter.

Most of us are familiar with light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, if for no other reason than that we might have worn a way-cool LED watch back in the 1970s. Well, LEDs have come a long way since then; these days, they represent the next generation of lighting technology that has the likes of General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Philips scrambling to scoop up LED manufacturers.

It's reported that the total revenues of Taiwan LED makers listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) reached NT$5.7 billion (US$177 million) in January, up 1.8% from NT$5.6 billion last December. Downstream packaging makers saw their total revenues reach NT$3.36 billion, up 3% sequentially, while LED chip makers totaled revenues of NT$2.34 billion, up 0.1% sequentially.