Osram CFO Ingo Bank doused rumors fueled in late 2016 about acquisition talks with Chinese investor Go Scale Capital during an interview with Bloomberg recently.

EarthTronics, dedicated to developing innovative energy efficient lighting products that provide a positive economic and environmental impact for its customers, announced today the addition of Leroy Herring, Jr., who has extensive business and sales development experience in the lighting industry. Appointed Midwest Regional Sales Manager, Herring has helped large and small corporations navigate through tremendous business growth. As a result, Herring will be responsible for directing commercial sales through manufacturers rep agencies, electrical distribution, lighting showrooms, ESCOs, contractors and national accounts.

On Dec. 27, 2016, Nichia Corporation ("Nichia") filed four patent infringement lawsuits in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The defendants in the lawsuits are (1) TTE Technology, a US-based LCD TV distributor, and its parent company, TCL Multimedia Technology Holdings Limited, a Chinese manufacturer of LCD TVs; (2) VIZIO, a US-based LCD TV maker; (3) Lowe’s Home Center LLC (“Lowe’s”), a US-based retailer of LED lighting and other products, and Lowe’s affiliated U.S. distributor, L G Sourcing, Inc.; and (4) Feit Electric Company, Inc., a US-based LED lighting manufacturer and distributor. In these lawsuits, Nichia asserts that defendants have infringed Nichia’s U.S. Patent No. 9,490,411. Nichia seeks an injunction prohibiting the defendants’ sale and distribution of infringing products. Nichia also seeks damages for defendants’ infringement.

Western Indian state Goa has rolled out a large scale streetlight replacement project, and replaced existing compact fluorescent lights (CFL) and high pressure sodium vapor (HPSV) lamps with LED bulbs, reported Times of India.

Las Cruces, a city located in New Mexico, U.S. has nearly completed replacing 2,700 streetlights before February, reported Las Cruces Sun-News.

Jasco Products, leader in LED Lighting and Consumer Electronic Solutions, today with Energizer® Holdings, announced it has acquired the license to the Energizer brand to produce a range of LED consumer home lighting solutions in the U.S. and Canada. Energizer branded products will be showcased at the Jasco booth for the first time at CES 2017 (Booth #12000, Central Hall). This license agreement includes LED lighting fixtures including direct wire, battery operated, and plug-in solutions.

Chinese LED chip maker San’an Opto kicked off 2017 with a new round of product price hikes.

Nichia a leader in LED technology, has officially launched their new 319A high power LED product series. The 319A series is available through Nichia Sales Offices, Future Lighting Solutions (FLS), a world-class leader and innovator in the distribution and marketing of solid-state lighting technologies, and other partner distributors.

On Dec. 19, 2016, Nichia Corporation (“Nichia”) filed a patent infringement lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court against TAKIZUMI ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES CO., LTD. (“Takizumi”), a manufacturer and distributor of lighting fixtures, seeking an injunction and compensation for damages.

Taiwanese LED industry underwent significant changes in senior management including in leading LED manufacturer Everlight, Optotech, and Unistar Opto, reported Chinese-language newspaper Commercial Times.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in India intends to roll out a massive streetlight replacement project ahead of the annual holiday Ugadi, which takes place on March 29 this year, reported The Hans India.

One more day to go before the New Years, so how did the industry fare in 2016? LEDinside organized a couple of articles reviewing some top trends in technology advancements and international mergers. A couple trends that are becoming more evident over the past year is different research institutes searching for more energy efficient and lower cost materials, while international mergers between Western technology companies and Chinese investors are under more government scrutiny. We expect protectionism measures to become increasingly common in the next few years, especially under new U.S. President Donald Trump’s government.

AIXTRON announced that it intends to voluntarily delist its American Depositary Shares (ADSs) from The NASDAQ Global Select Market (“NASDAQ”) and deregister and terminate its reporting obligations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended ("Exchange Act").

Chinese TV manufacturer LeEco’s takeover of U.S. TV maker Vizio for US $2 billion is still waiting for approval from Chinese government authorities, according to a TechNews report.

NVC Lighting and CAS Smart City signed an intelligent lighting partnership agreement recently in Huizhou, reported Yicai.com.

Last Friday, LED epiwafer manufacturer Genesis Photonics Inc. (GPI) outlined its future roadmap at a press conference, stating it was redirecting its focus to CSP LEDs for automotive lighting, reported Money DJ.com.

Honglizhihui, formerly a Chinese LED package manufacturer known as Hongliopto, forecasted its profits could plummet as much as 40% for 2016 compared to the same period last year.

On Dec. 21, 2016, SemiLEDs Corporation (the “Company”) selected BF Borgers CPA PC (“BF Borgers”) as its new independent registered public accounting firm. The decision to engage and appoint BF Borgers as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm was approved by the Audit Committee.

ETI forecasted losses incurred from operations would peak to RMB 100 million for the fourth quarter of 2016, stated the company in a press release.

China Development Bank (CDB) and San’an Opto group signed a strategic partnership agreement Thursday in southern province Xiamen to propel the Chinese LED company’s global sales strategy and rankings.

A recent Nikkei Asian Review report claiming Innolux would be scaling back LCD supplies to competitors because of Foxconn group policy was refuted by the LCD panel subsidiary recently.

Taiwan’s LED industry production value increased nearly 15% year-on-year during the first nine months of 2016, as more governments around the globe rolled out policies supporting environmental friendly businesses, said the Ministry of Economics Affair (MOEA) recently.

Even though Japan Display has temporarily solved its fundraising deadlock with the aid from a state-backed company in the OLED panel sector, the outlook remains uncertain and there are still challenges ahead before mass production, reported Nikkei Asian Review.

Big Chinese smartphone brands bullish revenue growth targets for 2016-2017 could cause oversupply of unsold phones, warned a Morgan Stanley analyst.

Leading Japanese LED chip manufacturer Nichia announced today it had won two separate YAG LED patent disputes against Everlight subsidiaries in the Düsseldorf Court of Appeal in Germany.

MLS (also known as Forest Lighting) announced Tuesday, the company will be pumping in another RMB 500 million (US $71.95 million) in a subsidiary of Chinese LED chip manufacturer Aucksun Opto to expand in the upstream LED sector.

Cree, a leader in LED lighting, announced that it has reached a confidential settlement in its patent infringement and false advertising lawsuit with Feit Electric Company. The settlement ends U.S. International Trade Commission ("ITC") investigation No. 337-TA-947 (“Certain Light-Emitting Diode Products and Components Thereof”) against Feit and its Asian supplier, Unity Opto Technology and the corresponding lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.

The sapphire substrate application industry hit a low point when Apple abandoned employing sapphire screens in its new generation iPhones, many Taiwanese sapphire manufacturers have bear the brunt from the abrupt decision, reported Chinese-language newspaper Commercial Times.

Large LED companies are increasingly turning to strategies focused on filing patent infringement lawsuits against competitors, Korean LED giant Seoul Semiconductor has become the latest company to take legal action against 29 firms worldwide for infringing backlight, filament, LED chip and package patents, reported Business Korea.

Andreas Weisl (38), former Vice President Europe of Korean LED manufacturer Seoul Semiconductor (SSC), has taken on the position of CEO at Seoul Semiconductor Europe GmbH based Munich, Germany, with effect from Nov. 11, 2016.