The U.S. based company, ONCE®, which provides animal-centric lighting systems for agriculture applications, has reported its acquisition of a German company iLOX® and its Polish subsidiary which develops lighting solutions for livestock facilities. Sharing the focus on improving the welfare of animals, the two companies expect to integrate their resources to create innovate lighting technology for agriculture. 

Seoul Semiconductor, a Korea based LED maker, has announced that its innovated LED technology “SunLike” is applied to home lighting products and will be launched in Q3. 

Foxconn Technology Group and its subsidiary Innolux will buy stakes in Vizio, the U.S. based television brand as the group’s strategy to expand market in North America. 

Innolux illustrated that by the end of this year, the company expected to launch Mini LED public information display (PID) and large size TV application was estimated to release in 2Q19. As for automotive products, due to the time consuming verification process, were scheduled in 2020.

Micro LED is considered to be the next generation display technology with its excellent performance in contrast, low energy consumption, quick response time and wide viewing angle. In January 2018, Samsung released the first Micro LED modular TV, “The Wall,” and other leading companies like Apple and Sony have also been investing in the technology development to push the application for end-market. If the obstacles of mass transfer technology and after process repairing could be overcome, it is forecasted that in five years Micro LED will be in the market. According to the estimation by LEDinside, the revenue of Micro LED and Mini LED will reach US$1.38 billion by 2022.

With technology implement, hospitality industry keeps seeking for upgraded services to create exclusive experiences for the guests. The Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC®) provides a platform for experts in both hospitality and technology to connect and cooperate. This year at HITEC, Samsung showcases several products including digital displays and wearable devices to enhance the management and service quality.

Smart AV, a U.K. based audio visual hire firm, announced its invest in the latest fine pitch LED product from a Chinese producer, Unilumin. The new LED product, Unano 1.8 LED, features 1.8mm pixel pitch, offering high resolution, wide color gamut and the ability to curve up to 5 degrees. 

LG Innotek launched the new brand “InnoUV” and planned to adopt the new brand logo to all of its UV LED products. The name “InnoUV” combined ‘innovation’ and ‘UV’, according to LG Innotek, it represents “an LED that embodies LG Innotek’s innovative UV technology.”

Taiwanese LED packaging company, EVERLIGHT, plans to increase the production capacity and revenue of automotive lighting and invisible LED including UV, IR and sensor for the second half of 2018.

The semiconductor process equipment manufacturer, Veeco, released the information of Aledia’s selection on its product, Propel® GaN MOCVD system for Aledia’s further research and development on 3D LED application.

LEDVANCE signed to join the United Nations Global Compact to illustrate the company’s commitment in four areas of corporate responsibility including human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption. 

Fusion Optix, an American based manufacturer of LED components reported the news of the company acquiring precision production equipment related to light guides and optical firms, quality control testing equipment and other asserts from the former Lighting Division of Rambus. According to Fusion Optix, the new equipment will be installed at its headquarters in Woburn, Massachusetts, USA and the company is expecting the acquisition will increase the capabilities of in-house production and engineering. 

The company has been working on Mini LED backlights application and is preparing production for clients on the third quarter 2018 and by the fourth quarter, Mini LED application could be found in the market.

Samsung demonstrated “The Wall”, the new giant 16inch Micro LED TV in CES 2018 and is now planning to release the products into the market by third quarter this year. According to the report of Korea Times, a senior company executive said Samsung Electronics will debut TVs using Micro LED technology commercially the soonest in the third quarter in 2018. 

Signify announced to appoint Brian Friborg as the new leader of Entertainment Lighting Group on 6th June 2018. Born in Danmark and now based in the U.S., Brian is experienced in lighting business and carries critical understandings about the industry.

LG Eletronics USA Business Solution is introducing the new Transparent Color LED film display which is flexible and can be attached on any surface such as windows and glass, making it possible to turn them into customized digital display. 

Signify, formerly known as Philips, announced the expansion of LED horticultural lighting installation with Agro-Inwest, Russia’s rapidly growing innovative company cultivating fresh vegetables. The greenhouses using LED lighting for growing tomatoes will reach the size of 68.5 hectares, equivalent to 100 soccer pitches. 

With Micro LED entering different applications, LEDinside this year has invited industry experts in Taiwan and from around the world to dissect the development of the technology and its major bottlenecks.

Focusing on the technology trend of Micro LED and its manufacturing limitation, this year in Micro LEDforum, LEDinside has invited worldwide experts to dissert and reveal the solutions of Micro LED applications. 

Vuzix® Corporation ("Vuzix" or, the "Company"), a leading supplier of Smart Glasses and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies and products for the consumer and enterprise markets, is pleased to announce that the Company is partnering with Plessey Semiconductor, a leading developer of award-winning optoelectronic solutions. The two companies are partnering to develop advanced display engines for Vuzix waveguide optics to enable next generation AR Smart Glasses. The combination of Vuzix' extensive expertise and IP in smart glasses and waveguide optic technologies along with Plessey's microLED light source product family, Quanta-Brite™ will be the basis for a new generation of AR Smart Glasses with the sleekest form factors to date.

Luminus Devices, Inc. has released its third proprietary spectral technology, PerfectWhite™, which closely replicates the visual characteristics of halogen lamps (3000K). When compared to halogen, PerfectWhite was preferred by lighting designers in testing at both Light + Building and Lightfair. Though the spectrums are a virtual match – Luminus filled the cyan gap – PerfectWhite’s color point is slightly below the black body locus and as a result, there’s no green/yellow tint that is common to halogen. A better halogen has long been a wish of the lighting design community and PerfectWhite delivers without infra-red, without green/yellow tint, and without ultraviolet radiation.

Luminus Devices, Inc. has expanded its ultraviolet (UV) LED portfolio with two new 280 nm devices intended for the medical and health and well-being product segments. The standard footprint 3535 surface mount emitter is a 350 mA device with peak output up to 60 mW. The second ultra-compact emitter is 1.3 mm by 1.3 mm and only 0.85 mm tall; it delivers 3 mW at 20 mA and peak output of 11 mW at 100 mA.

Signify (Euronext: LIGHT), the world leader in lighting, today announced that it has reached the 900th member milestone for its EnabLED Licensing Program for LED luminaires and retrofit bulbs in May. This latest milestone underlines the company's commitment to research and development and innovation in the latest energy efficient LED technologies.

Light Polymers is now shipping the first of its Healthy Lighting products in the Taiwan market. In a press conference in Neihu today, Light Polymers explained its lyotropic liquid crystal technology which is made and formulated in Taiwan and how it uses its liquid crystals to make Crystallin film to create healthy LED lighting products.

Korea-based Lumens made a stunning debut by delivering Micro LED display module called “MLD” in Indian market.

Veeco Instruments Inc. (Nasdaq: VECO) announced that Lumentum Holdings Inc. has ordered the Veeco K475i™ Arsenide/Phosphide (As/P) Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) System for production of its advanced semiconductor components which address the 3D sensing, high-speed fiber-optic communications and laser-based materials processing end-markets. Lumentum, headquartered in Milpitas, Calif., is a leading manufacturer of innovative optical and photonics products.

Micro LED since 2014 has been receiving attention. The industry is slowly becoming familiar with the new display technology that motivated Apple to acquire LuxVue. However, in 2008 a company already foresaw Micro LED to be a future display trend and started related development despite lack of market appetite. When the market started noticing Mini/Micro LED UK-based optic tech firm Optovate had already patented ideas to render various applications featuring these microscopic technologies.

2018 is a pivotal year for Mini/Micro LED development. UK-based Plessey Semiconductors in January announced its commitment to launch a Micro LED microdisplay featuring monolithic GaN-on-Silicon Micro LEDs. Following the announcement, LEDinside got in touch with Myles Blake, Marketing Director of Plessey Semiconductors, to learn more about its technology platform and product roadmap.

At SID's Display Week 2018 in Los Angeles, glō and Jasper Display Corp. (JDC) will, for the first time ever, demo the world's brightest self-emitting display panel. The industry's brightest Micro LEDs (10 μm), developed and integrated by glō, paired with JDC's new silicon backplane, the JD67E2, make it possible to deliver the high brightness and contrast that will benefit the next wave of watches, phones, heads-up-displays (HUDs), and augmented reality (AR) products.

In March, LEDinside witnessed a Chinese lighting company being caught red-handed for showcasing patent-infringing LED filament bulbs at Light + Building 2018. Slightly later than that, we also learnt Epistar has approached and initiated talks with a few companies for IP collaborations at that fair. At TILS 2018 in April, LEDinside interviewed Epistar and got more details about the matter.