Maharashtra state in India became the second largest distributor of LED bulbs in the nation-wide campaign to slash energy consumption, reported The Hindu.

Japan Display Inc. (JDI) intends to acquire Panasonic and Sony’s OLED joint venture JOLED to better compete with Korean rivals and emerging Chinese players, reported Nikkei Asian Review.

The Jaipur Metro Rail in India will be replacing all sodium lights at the Vivek Vihar station with LED lights to cut energy consumption, reported The Times of India.

Mayor Emanuel has announced that the City is conducting a public demonstration of next-generation streetlights in seven neighborhoods as part of the Chicago Smart Lighting Project, which will upgrade streetlights across the city. Residents are being asked to provide feedback on the new lighting, which represents the latest advances in lighting technology, through the end of the year.

Royal Philips concluded its LED component business sale after the takeover was delayed for nearly one year, due to national security concerns raised by The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUs) earlier in January this year.

Royal Philips announced that it has signed an agreement to sell an 80.1% interest in Lumileds, a leading supplier of LED components and automotive lighting, to certain funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC (NYSE: APO) (together with its consolidated subsidiaries: “Apollo”). Philips will retain the remaining 19.9% interest* in Lumileds. 

Japanese consumer electronic giant Sony will be launching two new OLED TVs by 2017, reported Forbes.

The Delta State Government in Nigeria announced recently it will be raking in 65 million Naira (US $ 206,185.85) annually from its LED display boards installed throughout the state, reported Channels21 TV.

Holiday lighting is expected to add 750-800 megawatts (MW) to the level of electricity used by New Yorkers this season, the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) reports.

Brighton and Hove Council in UK is set to save more than GBP 200,000 (US $ 251,720) a year and slash its energy and carbon footprint by introducing new LED street lighting.

The finale of Aixtron’s sale to Grand Chip Investment ended with the Chinese investor dropping the deal after U.S. President Barack Obama prohibited the German equipment maker from transferring key U.S. patents and assets to the acquisitor, due to national security concerns. In brief, Aixtron’s equipment can be used to make GaN wafers that are used in U.S. military applications including Patriot missiles. The German equipment maker is currently considering to sell parts of its business off instead, after the deal with the Chinese investor failed.

The LED industry was volatile throughout 2016, but started to rebound during first half of the year following soaring upstream chip prices. Despite positive growth in the industry, companies were still shutting down or exiting the market, while more were paying attention to industry developments. Under current market situations, leading manufacturers’ development strategy also come under the lime light.

Chinese equipment manufacturer Jiangsu Huasheng Tianlong Photoelectric sealed a large monocrystalline silicon growth furnace order from equipment manufacturer SuperBrain valuing RMB 186 million (US $29.95 million).

Idemitsu Kosan (headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director & Chief Executive Officer: Takashi Tsukioka; hereinafter, “Idemitsu” or the “Company”) announces its decision to expand production capacity of the OLED materials at its 100% subsidiary Idemitsu Electronic Materials Korea Co., Ltd. (location: Paju, Gyeon-do, South Korea; president: Kazuki Maeda) to respond to the expected increase in demand for OLED materials due to increased penetration of OLED displays as well as to install additional evaluation equipment in order to strengthen technological customer support capabilities.

China’s capital Beijing has installed 28 streetlights enhanced with advanced graphene material technology in Tongzhou District, which can slash energy consumption by 20% to 30% compared to current lamps on the market, reported China Daily.

Leviton announced the acquisition of ConTech Lighting, a leading, Chicago-based manufacturer of high-performance and sustainable lighting solutions and fixtures. Through this acquisition, Leviton continues its strategic growth in lighting and expands its product offerings and solutions with ConTech Lighting’s high-quality, innovative designs.

The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has recently released a free, open-access circadian stimulus (CS) calculator to help lighting professionals select light sources and light levels that will increase the potential for circadian-effective light exposure in architectural spaces, utilizing the CS metric. Developed by LRC researchers, the CS metric is a new way to quantify light’s impact on acute melatonin suppression, a marker of circadian system activation.

Chinese LED manufacturer Lianovation filed a suit against Hanen Digital Interconnect Culture (Hanen Digital) for not returning earnest money after the two organizations canceled an acquisition deal, reported Chinese-language media Sinai.

Sharp has developed green laser diodes, and are running pilot projects of the lasers in its facilities in Mihara, Japan, reported Nikkei.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, to promote local manufacturing of LED bulbs fell flat when suppliers could not keep up with the large volume of demands, reported The Quint.

The chances of Chinese investor Grand Chip Investment (GCI) acquiring Aixtron are looking rather slim, following U.S. President Barack Obama recent order that bans the business transaction, reported Bloomberg.

Jufei Opto announced recently in a statement that it signed a red phosphor license agreement with leading U.S. manufacturer GE Lighting.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) announced it is close to concluding Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA) talks in Geneva, Switzerland, which would reduce tariffs for eco-friendly products including LED lights, bikes, and recycled paper products.

Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer Panasonic is in talks with Austrian headlight maker ZKW Group, a Bloomberg report quoted person familiar with the matter saying.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science published the Fiscal Year 2017 Phase I, Release 2 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) on November 28, 2016, for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs. Under DE-FOA-0001619, whose complete listing of technical topics was released on October 31, DOE seeks applicants for grants directed toward FY17 Phase I, Release 2 projects. Topics for this funding opportunity can be found at //science.energy.gov/sbir/funding-opportunities and include LED and OLED lighting (see topic 10b).

Early in May, Luxlite, Epistar's sole distributor in China, has sent out an announcement of price adjustment, listing a number of reasons for price increase, including continuingly increased raw materials and manpower costs.  （Official announcements from Luxlite, Smalit and Rishang regarding the rise of LED package price） Chinese LED chips manufacturers San’an Opto and HC Semitek followed suit Epistar’s lead in raising LED chip prices, which was considered as an early sign of recovery from the heated price war since 2014. Major...

According to AIXTRON SE's press release, Japanese group Toyoda Gosei has acquired an enhanced 5x4-inch CRIUS Close Coupled Showerhead (CCS) system to manufacture Blue and Ultra Violet (UV) LEDs. The tool is scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2017.

Monocrystal, a global leader in synthetic sapphire growing and processing, shipped its 5 millionth four-inch equivalent (FIE) sapphire wafer. Large diameter wafers have recently become a mainstream product, driven by LED makers’ immediate benefit from a 30% increase in MOCVD reactor throughput and higher binning yields. At the same time, sapphire wafer shape and cleanness are crucial in achieving high epitaxial yields and getting the benefits of using large diameters.

Facing a severe operation crisis Korean conglomerate Samsung Electronic is considering to take the advice of hedge fund management firm Elliott Management Corporation to spin-off into two independent legal entities, The Seoul Economic Daily cited sources familiar with the matter.

China’s LED lighting market value will surpass RMB 500 billion (US $72.45 billion) by 2016, said Ling Wu, the Secretary General of China’s International Solid State Alliance (ISA).