Coretronic Corporation (Coretronic), Taiwan has completed the acquisition of Calibre, a privately held British image processing technology manufacturer based in Bradford, Yorkshire, UK.

Quantum Materials Corp announced that its cadmium-free quantum dots in a remote LED application successfully surpassed the 1000 hour continuous on-time durability test. The testing has been conducted with red and green quantum dots encapsulated in resin and mounted to blue emitting LED's (see diagram below), which are similar to the type of LED's used in standard LCD display back light units (BLU).

AIXTRON announced that OSRAM Opto Semiconductors has purchased the company’s AIX 2800G4-TM Planetary system for the manufacturing of mainly infrared-based high power lasers and LEDs based on gallium arsenide (GaAs).

A leading tomato producer in northern Italy invests in advanced LED technology to increase yield and improve plant quality. Heliospectra AB announces a new order from Heliospectra's Italian reseller Ageon S.r.l. The order goes to one of Italy's prominent commercial tomato producers Gandini Antonio S.S. located in northern Italy, with the goal to improve plant quality and increase yield. The order is valued at $99,000 (805,000 SEK).

Light Polymers recently announced a patent license-agreement with Cree, a leading innovator of lighting-class LEDs, LED Lighting and power semiconductor solutions. Cree has granted a royalty-bearing, non-exclusive patent license to certain Cree patents for certain LED luminaires. This agreement will allow Light Polymers to apply their proprietary nanochemistry to affordably manufacture luminaires with special photonic films that advance the development of the LED lighting market by enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of LED lighting products.

LED package giant EVERLIGHT reported a solid 2Q17 revenue and profit better than that in 1Q17, yet worse than that in the prior year period. The product mix adjustment and price wars are said to account for the annual decline in EVERLIGHT’s finance. Besides, its new capacity is yet to contribute.

Technology giants such as Apple and Sharp have been actively running a series of research and development on Micro LED technology. PCB manufacturers are also eager to seize the related business opportunities. Unimicron has invested in related advanced manufacturing processes. It will start a small batch production in 2018 at the earliest and plans to mass produce PCBs for Micro LED applications in 2019. The rest of PCB makers intend to follow suit, which is expected to drive the growth of the PCB market to a new high. 

WELLMAX, the LED Bulb Expert in China, has 30 years of global experiences in partnering with quality lighting brands. More than 800 million quality bulbs have been sold across the globe. More than 200 partners over 50 countries have built long-term relationship with them. WELLMAX has been the first strategic partner of Samsung Electronics extending collaborations in the SAMSUNG global ingredient brand program since 2016.

Sengled, manufacturing intelligent lighting products that integrate consumer electronics inside energy efficient LED lights, announced their acceptance into the LoRa Alliance, joining other technology innovators in efforts to evolve home automation to commercial scale.

The Japanese digital panel giant Japan Display Inc. (JDI) had a struggle revamping its liquid crystal display (LCD) panel business. To make the recovery happen, JDI planned to accept fundings from outside investors. Not only that, JDI will restructure LCD panel production sites, and lay off employees at a large scale, slashing about 4,000 jobs, according to Nikkei's report on August 8. 

Osram Opto Semiconductors successfully held a breaking ground ceremony for Wuxi factory's phase two expansion project in the Wuxi High-Tech Industrial Development Zone on August 8th.

Process equipment provider Veeco reported on 3rd August its financial results in 2Q17. The company ended the second quarter with a solid revenue of USD 115.1 million, up 52.9% YoY. Yet, shares of the company slumped by 20% at 1 p.m. the next day after the financial announcement, as The Motley Fool carried in its report.

Heliospectra AB, a noted company in intelligent lighting technology for greenhouse and controlled plant growth environments, announces a new Fortune 500 Global AgTech customer. The order, valued at $70,000, adds to Heliospectra's significant 2017 sales growth and product commercialization.

Heliospectra AB, an expert in intelligent lighting technology for greenhouse and controlled plant growth environments, announces a new order from John Innes Centre in Norwich, United Kingdom. An independent, international centre of excellence in plant science, research, genetics and microbiology, the John Innes Centre order is valued at £ 92,248 (1 048 273 SEK).

On May 22, San'an Optoelectronics Co., Ltd announced its wholly owned daughter company, Sanan Optoelectronics Hong Kong Company Limited would set up a subsidiary in the USA with its own funding of USD 10 million. This US-based firm would mostly focus on research, development, manufacture, and distribution of visible light communication (VLC) technology.

Cree, Inc. , a leading LED supplier, announced that it has reached a confidential settlement in its patent infringement lawsuit with E. Mishan and Sons (“Emson”). Emson has agreed to an exclusive supply agreement to purchase market leading Cree® high power LEDs for its high performance tactical flashlights.

Bridgelux, a leading developer and manufacturer of light emitting diode (LED) lighting technologies, yesterday filed a counter claim against EVERLIGHT in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California seeking past and current damages, and an injunction preventing further sale of certain products in the United States.  Bridgelux asserts that many EVERLIGHT products including EVERLIGHT’s 2835 and chip-on-board (COB) product lines infringe on Bridgelux United States Patent numbers 6,869,812, 8,567,988, 8,256,929 and 8,092,051.

AIXTRON SE, a worldwide leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, announced today that globally leading Chinese optoelectronics manufacturer San’an has successfully completed the qualification of AIXTRON’s novel Close Coupled Showerhead (CCS) process chamber designed for the production of Deep Ultra Violet (DUV) LEDs.

Oversea buyers are often challenged by the dilemma of keeping product packaging cost down and of ensuring sufficient protection for products during transportation. One of the last steps on the manufacturing side, package the final products is often a neglected process by both the buyers and the manufacturers. A well-designed product packaging can not only minimize damage during cross-continental transportation, but also attract end-consumers when they are choosing among various brands of similar product in front of the shopping aisle. Since packaging is such a crucial step, how can oversea buyers ensure their purchased goods received the added-value from the process?

Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd., the noted Korean company in LED (light emitting diode) design and manufacturing, announced consolidated second-quarter revenues of KRW 267 billion. The rise in consolidated revenue came from strong sales in general lighting and strengths across all divisions within the company. The year over year rise in automotive lighting sales proved highly profitable for the company.

Philips Lighting announced the company’s 2017 second quarter results. “I am pleased that our LED, Professional and Home businesses posted solid operating margin increases, while Lamps maintained its high level of profitability,” said CEO Eric Rondolat.  “In the first half of the year, our growth profile improved and our profitability continued to increase.  This demonstrates the successful implementation of our strategy and reinforces our confidence that we are on track to achieve our outlook for 2017.”

Philips Lighting, a global leader in lighting, announced that it has signed up its 800th member for its EnabLED Licensing Program for LED luminaires and retrofit bulbs. 

Osram has acquired a strategic 25.1 percent share in LeddarTech Inc., a Canadian company that develops a proprietary LiDAR technology integrated into semiconductors and sensor modules for self-driving cars and driver-assistance systems. LeddarTech specializes in solid-state LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) systems that use infrared light to monitor the area around them, and its advanced optical sensing technology is highly complementary with Osram’s semiconductor products. The two companies already work together and Osram has now made an investment in LeddarTech in the mid double-digit million euros.

Foxconn on July 26 announced the initiation of its “Flying Eagle Project” in North America and a US$10 billion investment to build a Gen-10.5 LCD panel fab in Wisconsin. According to WitsView, a division of TrendForce, this proposed plant will be mainly producing panels of 8K resolution. Display technologies behind 8K resolution are well developed and have existed for a while. Nonetheless, Foxconn’s Wisconsin plant represents the first-ever attempt to build LCD manufacturing capacity in North America. As LCD technology matures, having an integrated supply chain for its end products near or within the key regional markets will be crucial to the competitiveness of panel suppliers and consumer electronics brands.

The Korean Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) announced on 24th July that it developed a new technology to possibly facilitate the mass transfer process of Micro LED manufacturing, as Business Korea carried in its report.

"Osram's operating performance continues to be very strong. We are forging ahead with our transformation into a systems provider. By acquiring a stake in LeddarTech, we are paving the way for success in the key future market of autonomous driving," said Olaf Berlien, CEO of OSRAM Licht AG.

Osram continues its transformation by establishing state-of-the-art technology at its German sites, based on the key points set out in the ‘Zukunftskonzept OSRAM’ (“Future Concept OSRAM”) agreed to by the company and the employee representatives. The aim is to sustain the company’s growth path, which began two years ago with the launch of Osram’s ‘Diamond’ innovation and growth initiative. The transformation will also lead to changes in the employment structure in Germany. Overall, the number of jobs in Germany is set to increase over the coming years.

1H17 has been a hectic time for the LED industry, especially for Chinese up- and midstream manufacturers. The recouping demand lightened up the market sentiment and many A-list companies reported their large investments which LEDinside would like to share with you here.

For a long time, Nichia, Osram Opto., Cree, Toyota Gosei and Lumileds have jointly shaped an enormous and powerful patent shield with cross-license agreements within the world LED industry and the five lighting goliaths have been charging, more or less, whoever tried to sell LED products abroad. However, as those patents are about to expire, Taiwan- and Korea-based Companies rise with their new patents and the expansion of Chinese businesses is posing threats, the industry is slowing transitioning away from the old oligopoly.

The LED industry had quite a peaceful time in 1H17. Apart from a few M&As, the most-discussed technology would be Micro LED. Lots of high-tech giants worldwide have already started a series of R&D and the number of participants is getting bigger. The supply chain of Micro LED, although of limited mature technologies, is slowly shaping up. Here, LEDinside lists out major events and milestones made on the path of developing Micro LED in the first half of 2017.