Toshiba has announced a six-year, 100 billion yen (about $1.11 billion; 1 USD = 89.7951 JPY) investment plan in LED light bulb manufacturing.

The discontinuation of many foreign-held patents on diode-based technologies by 2010 is expected to cut prices of China-made LED bulbs and tubes further. Among the multinational companies with several licenses expiring in the next few months are Osram, Nichia and Cree.

Cree, Inc. last week announced that the public offering of 11,000,000 shares of its common stock has priced at $35.50 per share for gross proceeds of $390.5 million. The offering includes a 30-day option for the underwriters to purchase up to 1,650,000 additional shares to cover overallotments, if any. Cree is conducting the offering pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933. The offering is expected to be completed on September 16, 2009, subject to customary closing conditions.

Spurred by an influx of orders for the 2010 World Expo Shanghai, LED maker Macroblock’s revenues surged 30% MoM to $4.26 million in August; the growth momentum is expected to extend through September. Macroblock’s third quarter revenues is expected to reach $12 million, a QoQ growth of 34%, which is far higher than the previous estimate of 10~15% growth released at the investor’s conference.

Taiwan LED makers cheered as their 2Q09 revenues jumped by more than 30-40%, thanks largely to robust demand of backlight applications and outdoor displays.

Spurred by medium to large-sized LED backlight order, Unity Opto Tech's Q3 margin rose significantly, with Q3 revenue forecasted to reach $39 million.

As the vanguard in the field, Samsung introduced the first series of LED TV and sold some 500 thousand units in the last six months. The launch triggered various brand vendors such as LG, Sharp, Sony to follow suit, and benefitted Taiwan's LED chip makers Epistar and FOREPI.

Cree, Inc. yesterday reported its 4Q09 revenue and forecast better-than-expected first-quarter results. The company scored record revenue of $148.1 million for its fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, representing a 9% increase compared to revenue of $135.9 million reported for the fourth fiscal quarter last year and a 13% increase compared to the fiscal third quarter of 2009. And for fiscal year 2009, the company reported revenue of $567.3 million, which represents a 15% increase compared to revenue of $493.3 million for fiscal 2008.

Macroblock, a Taiwan-based manufacturer of LED driver, has released its half-year results of 2009, assessed the business environment, and outlined the business strategy at the investor conference on August 05, 2009. In 2009 half-year financial report, Macroblock reached revenue of NTD553 millions, decreased by 12.4% compared to that of the same period of last year. The consolidated gross profit margin reached 42.8%. The net income was NTD69.8 millions and the earnings after income tax was NTD2.28 per share.

As the largest enterprise in Asia’s glaze industry, China Glaze Group expands its business field into the LED industry. The target monthly output of LED phosphor powder was raised to 450kgs~600kgs from its initial 100kgs. The production is expected to grow fourfold, and the visibility exceed 1 ton. Due to the low cost of raw materials, the group may achieve NT$50 million in profit during Q209, which is 4 times that of 1Q09.

AIXTRON announced its consolidated financial results for the first half of 2009. Stimulated by the adoption of LED backlight in LCD TV, AIXTRON recorded 23% increase in sequential quarterly revenues from EUR 46.2 million in Q1 to EUR 56.7 million in Q2.

Leadis Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: LDIS), an analog and mixed-signal semiconductor developer of LED driver products for consumer electronics devices, today announced results for the second quarter of 2009, ended June 30, 2009. Q2 2009 Highlights --  Leadis divested of its Touch sensor product assets for $6.25 million. Leadis is now focused solely on the design, development and marketing of LED drivers and controllers. --  Leadis achieved 5 new LED driver design wins in the quarter.

Samsung Electronics on July 24 posted an impressive set of its second quarter earnings. For the three months through June, operating profits were just over $2 billion, a fivefold increase on the first quarter and up 5% from a year earlier. The total revenue was $26 billion, up 13.4% from the first quarter and 11.7% from the same period last year.

Under strong demand for light emitting diodes (LED), Epistar Corp., the largest supplier of epitaxial wafers in Taiwan, scored a single-month high of NT$1.147 billion (US$34.98 million at US$1: NT$32.79) in sales for June, growing by 17.16% from May and 35.7% from last June, according to the firm.

CRS Electronics ("CRS"), the operating subsidiary of Podium Capital Corporation (TSX VENTURE:LED), an engineer, designer, and manufacturer of LED lighting, is pleased to announce new installations for their MR16 LED replacement lamps have been completed during the month of June including two premiere locations; Gowlings LLP's Toronto offices and GlaxoSmithKline's facility in Mississauga, Ontario.

Cree, Inc. today announced increased revenue and earnings targets for its fiscal fourth quarter ending June 28, 2009. Cree now targets revenue in a range of $143 million to $150 million with GAAP earnings of $0.07 to $0.09 per diluted share and non-GAAP earnings of $0.15 to $0.17 per diluted share, based on an estimated 89 million diluted weighted average shares. Targeted non-GAAP earnings exclude expenses related to the amortization of acquired intangibles of $0.03 per diluted share, and stock-based compensation expense of $0.05 per diluted share.

Macroblock, a leading manufacturer of LED driver, today released its annual results of fiscal year 2008 and the first quarter results of 2009. The gross profit margin in the first quarter of 2009 outperformed that of the same period of last year. In addition, Macroblock also assessed the business environment and outlined the business strategy at the investor conference held by Gre Tai Securities Market (the GTSM) at Grand Formosa Regent Taipei on April 29, 2009.

Rubicon Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:RBCN), a provider of sapphire substrates and products to the LED, RFIC, Semiconductor, and Optical industries, today reported financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2009.

For the third quarter ended March 29, LED products maker Cree reported earnings of $4.0 million, compared with $5.7 million in the year-ago period, which is above market estimates. And the company has forecasted stronger-than-expected revenue for the fourth quarter.

The OLED lighting market will reach $6 billion by 2018, according to a recent report. The report notes that the OLED market will start to pick up in 2011, with Philips, GE, Konica Minolta, Lumiotec, and OSRAM entering mass production.

AIXTRON AG of Aachen, Germany, worldwide leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, announced financial results for fiscal year 2008, ended December 31, 2008. Key Financials

Recently, Taiwan LED maker Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. claimed that it won orders for backlight unit (BLU)-use LEDs from a big international notebook PC brand. The company expects its revenue climb by 20% to 30% this year. Everlight confirmed that its LEDs for monitor and LCD TV BLUs are undergoing certification, so its shipments of LEDs for large-sized LED panels would enjoy clear growth.

It’s reported that LED systems maker Terralux has brought in an undisclosed first round of financing, but is already looking to raise more. Based in Boulder, Colo., Terralux has been operating off of funds provided by its founder, a business model that it has long since outgrown.

After landing big orders for LED lightings and winning bids for supplying solar cell panels, Delta Electronics Inc. projected its annual revenue to grow 5% from 2008 to hit NT$150 billion in 2009, despite the lingering global economic downturn.  

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.