There have been rumors that Apple will switch to OLED screen for its iPhone 8. Those rumors seem to carry more weight after Apple reportedly ordered an additional 60 million OLED panels from Samsung, bring the total number to 160 million. This means that Samsung may become the main supplier for iPhone 8 displays.

Market research firm TrendForce reports annual tablet shipments worldwide posted a decline for 2016, dropping 6.6% to 157.4 million units. However, total shipments from branded tablet vendors surpassed expectations because of the robust year-end holiday sales.

First revealed by AppleInsider, Apple has been awarded a US patent on Tuesday, suggesting that the company is exploring display technology that embeds Micro LEDs and an IR diode to read users’ fingerprints without a dedicated Touch ID sensor. This new design feature may shed lights on its iPhone 8.

Apple is said to release a low-priced iPad and will partner with Chinese players to reduce production costs, boosting this new product’s competitive edge.

Due to recent pollution crackdown by Chinese authorities, the steel industry in China has halt production and undergone consolidation, leading to a dramatic price surge in steel products. As a result, prices of LED chip and packages have also increased, further resulting in a price hike in LED end products.

Osram’s spokeman told Reuters it foresees a rapid increase in demand for its infrared components in the light of the introduction of the state-of-the-art iris-scanning identification in mobile devices. Osram plans to recruit around 1,000 new talents at its factory in Regensburg, Germany.

Another bitter litigation between two noted LED manufacturers has come to an end. The Intellectual Property High Court of Japan (IPHC) announced on 18th of Jan, 2017 a dismissal of the lawsuit Everlight filed to call for injunctions against Nichia based on the Japanese Unfair Competition Act.

It is reported by Reuters on 30th of Jan that a spokesman of lighting manufacturer Osram announced the company has been approved by the German government to sell its Lamps unit to an association of Chinese bidders for 400 million euros (USD 425 million).

Elemental LED announced today that Matt John, Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President of Business & Product Development, has been recognized by the National Association of Innovative Lighting Distributors (NAILD) with the Forces Under 40 award. The program is aimed at rewarding the achievements of young and dynamic leaders in the lighting industry.  Those recognized will be publicly honored at the 2017 NAILD Conference on February 19-22, 2017 in Orlando, Florida, as well as featured in Today’s Lighting Distributor magazine.

LED Linear luminaires normally fascinate due to their formal reductionism but they make it also possible to form completely new design elements. Liz West worked with our luminaires and created a colorful light installation which was recently revealed.

For the long-awaited inauguration of the Elbphilharmonie concert hall located on the harbour-side in Hamburg, a massive light and video setup was installed. It all culminated with a spectacular show in the evening of January 11. As a crucial part of this show, no less than 500 pcs. of P-5 and P-2 wash lights from SGM were applied.

Philips and Cree both announced their revenues for 2016. Philips results showed a slight dip in overall revenue, but continual double digit growths from its LED lighting business. Cree on the other hand reported a slight decline in its overall revenue of about 8% compared to the same period last year.

Formosa Petrochemical Corporation (FPCC) announced Thursday about a new investment partnership with Japanese UV LED manufacturer Nikkiso to expand applications in medical devices, reported Taiwanese media UDN.

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released a new Snapshot Report on LED troffer luminaires. Among the key findings of the Snapshot, which is based on DOE's LED Lighting Facts® database:

Tridonic, a leading global provider of smart and efficient lighting solutions, is opening a new office in Highland, New York to serve the North American market with smart solutions also for IoT applications. 

Philips Lighting announced that its Supervisory Board will propose the appointment of two new members, Jill Lee and Gerard van de Aast. 

Revolution Lighting Technologies, a global provider of advanced LED lighting solutions, today announced that the small business portion of its New England based companies have completed approximately $25 million of business in 2016.  Through its divisions, Revolution Lighting worked closely with its small business customers to provide “turnkey” energy efficiency retrofit solutions, including the installation of LED technologies.

Dow Corning, a global leader in silicones, silicon-based technology and innovation, significantly expanded the design flexibilities for LED packaging manufacturers today with the addition of three new highly reflective silicone coatings to its fast-growing portfolio of advanced LED solutions. Offering targeted solutions for cutting-edge LED designs – such as chip scale (CSP) and chip on-board (COB) packaging – the three new products also deliver versatile processing options ranging from conventional dispensing to emerging printing methods.

For one weekend a year, Kitzbühel becomes the focal point of the winter sports world – the venue for the undisputed highlight of the Alpine World Cup season. Every January thousands of sports fans make their way to probably the most famous ski slope in Austria – the Streif – in the north-east corner of Tyrol. This year’s event takes place from 20th to 22nd January 2017, when visitors can look forward to thrilling races on the Hahnenkamm slopes and hours of entertainment near the finishing line at the KitzRaceClub. The Zumtobel Group is the official lighting partner for the third time in 2017 and has now combined a series of innovative solutions to perfectly showcase the KitzRaceClub.

EVERLIGHT ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., a leading player in the global LED and optoelectronics industry, is showcasing the latest ranges of lighting, automotive and infrareds products at the upcoming 9th Light-Tech Expo,including the completely new highly efficient G-5630, a new high efficiency and high CRI G-COB Xuan, automotive ambient lighting sources and infrared transmission/receiving series. Everyone is welcome to visit EVERLIGHT at Hall 3, E24-4.

Organized by the Bureau of Foreign Trade, MOEA, the Taiwan International Lighting Show, also known as TILS, will be held from 12th to 15th of April, 2017 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 1, in conjunction with LED Taiwan 2017. The 2-in-1 fair, implemented by Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) , Taiwan Lighting Fixture Export Association (TLFEA), and SEMI Taiwan, will showcase the lighting products and services with topics “Smart Lighting“ and “Lighting Design” , to collect together LED lights, smart lighting, medical lights, automotive lighting system, IR lights, lighting for agriculture & aquaculture, High-Brightness LED, Laser, Sapphire, LED components, etc. under one roof.

Elemental LED, a leading U.S. based engineering and technology company that manufactures LED lighting solutions announced today a partnership with Boston Light Source that extends its Diode LED product brand into the state of Massachusetts. Elemental LED and its manufacturing and wholesale division, Diode LED, provides a wide variety of superior quality linear, task, and accent LED lighting solutions for both commercial and residential applications.

Smart lighting manufacturer meets smart, collaborative robot to make assembly 1200 percent faster

Osram is close to receiving approval from the German government to go ahead with the sales of its general lighting business LEDVANCE to a Chinese investment consortium headed by IDG Capital Partners (IDG), reported DrivingVisionNews.com.

Phosphor export values of Changshu, a city located in Jiangsu Province in China, reportedly tumbled 55% Year-on-Year in 2016, based on data compiled by local customs agency, reported Chinese-language media China News Service.

HC Semitek announced recently it sent an application to resume trade on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SSE) in China on Jan. 9, 2017.

Singapore's Land Transport Authority (LTA)  announced it will be stepping up efforts to convert all roads in the city-state to more energy efficient lighting and sustainable systems by the year 2022.

India’s Power Minister Piyash Goyal announced the country implemented the largest streetlight replacement project in the in capital south Delhi, reported The Economic Times.

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.

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.