Company representatives from LiteOn, China Electric and Monocrystal urged Taiwanese LED manufacturers to direct resources to develop niche market products, instead of developing products in the overtly competitive general lighting and application markets during a press conference for the upcoming lighting show LED Taiwan at Taipei World Trade Center Club, Taiwan. 

Cornawall, a city in eastern Ontario, Canada, is expected to complete the upgrade of 5,000 LED streetlights by the end of 2016, reported Seaway News.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) announced that ANSI Accredited Standards Committee C78 published ANSI C78.374-2015 Light-Emitting Diode Package Specification Sheet for General Illumination Applications. The purpose of this new standard is to specify the standardized white light-emitting diode (LED) package specification sheet, or data reporting format, as the means of communication between LED package producers and users in general illumination applications. The minimum defined contents and format of the specification sheet are provided. 

As crews installed the 30,000th energy efficient L.E.D. (light emitting diode) streetlight fixture of a planned 50,000 units in Hempstead Town, Supervisor Anthony J. Santino detailed energy cost savings associated with the major project.  At the same time, Santino “illuminated” residents on the expansion of planet friendly/cost saving the initiative to include the conversion of 17,000 interior light fixtures at town facilities.  Joining the Supervisor at a press briefing on Hamilton Avenue in Island Park was Councilman Anthony D’Esposito, along with Ricky Tripodo of Facility Solutions Group (FSG), a private sector partner that is converting streetlight elements in tandem with town work crews.

Royal Philips has listed six banks and filed draft documents to the Dutch market regulator for a possible IPO for its lighting division as it proceeds the sale of the lighting business, according to a recent Bloomberg report.

Highlights this week: Apple has dropped Osram Licht from its list of top 200 suppliers and added Royal Philips to its supply chain, ahead of the release of the iPhone 7.

The procurement price of LED bulbs may have hit a record low at INR 54.90 (US $0.82), and it could continue to drop as Indian government promotes energy-efficient technology across the country.

LG Display announced that the company has inked a deal to construct a display module assembly factory in Hai Phong, Vietnam, reported Reuters.

German lighting giant Osram’s spin-off of its lamps business into LEDVANCE has completed organizational separation as of April 1, 2016, while the legal separation is scheduled in July 1, 2016. Many lighting vendors have been competing for a chunk of Osram’s lamp business, which LEDinside projects details of the acquisition transaction will become clearer from late April to late May 2016, including the offered price from various bidders, developments of vendors granted priority rights, and other conditions involved in the talks of the separation of LEDvance. Besides weighing in on the potential acquisitor of the lamp business and conditions under the procurement, the deal is under the lime light of the entire lighting and LED business.

NEMA’s Lighting Systems Shipments Index, a measure of demand for lighting equipment, decreased 2.6% quarter-to-quarter while posting a 0.1% increase year-over-year during 4Q15. Fixtures, emergency lighting, and miniature lamp, components of the index, gained ground on a year-over-year basis, while ballast and large lamp, components recorded year-over-year declines.

Dame Zaha Hadid, the renowned Iraqi-born architect, who designed the London Olympic Aquatic Centre, has died after a heart attack, reported the Telegraph.

Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc., together with its parent company, Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (TNSC), has announced that the Solid State Lighting & Energy Electronics Center (SSLEEC), the world renowned research center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, installed an SR-4000HT grade gallium nitride (GaN) metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) reactor for its continued compound semiconductor device developmental work for UVCLED. SSLEEC is co-directed by Nobel Prize-winning Professor Shuji Nakamura and Professor Steven DenBaars.

The city of Phoenix in Arizona, U.S. is asking for public input on the appearance and use of energy-efficient LED technology for street and park lighting.

NEMA’s Electroindustry Business Conditions Index (EBCI) for current conditions in North America surged in March, climbing to 64.7 from 44.4 the previous month as more panelists reported conditions improved than eroded. Compared to February, a larger share of the survey panel reported that business conditions improved (41% in March compared to 22% in February) and a smaller share reported that they deteriorated (12% in March compared to 33% in February). Forty-seven percent claimed conditions were unchanged in March, similar to the share holding this view a month ago.

As LED lights are generally considered to be an ideal replacement for conventional HPS lamps for its high efficiency and low maintenance, complaints about these overtly bright energy-saving lights from residential areas across U.S. has been quite common.

Stirling Council is set to save GBP 31 million (US$44.57 million) over the next 30 years by installing energy saving streetlights.

Smoke and flame shot from Taiwanese LED chip manufacturer Epistar’s plant in Northern Taiwan last night. The source of the fire was located at the waste water tank next to the parking lot at B2 (second level in the basement) in the company’s N3 plant. The fire started at around 6 PM and was soon under control. There were zero casualties, no one was wounded. The fire has no impact on the company finances and sales.

Investor lawsuits have caused Foshan Lighting’s net profits to plummet 79.93% in 2015 to RMB 53 million (US $8.15 million), while annual revenue dropped 6.26% YoY to RMB 2.88 billion, according to a company statement.

ETI announced recently that the company board’s Independent Director Jing Guo Jiang has resigned, due to personal reasons.

Shanghai Felio Acoustics rebutted misleading reports claiming its affiliated company INESA is building a new LED plant in France that could create 200 to 300 new jobs in the country.

Seoul Semiconductor announced that it won a patent infringement lawsuit regarding LED backlight lens technology against Japanese lens maker Enplas.

Lawsuits, lawsuits and more lawsuits. Basically sums up Nichia’s activities this week. The leading Japanese LED chip maker announced it filed three suits in one week, two of the lawsuits were against U.S. TV manufacturer Vizio, respectively in Eastern court of Texas and Central district court of California. 

The Zhaga Consortium, a global association of lighting companies that is standardizing LED lighting components, has published its eagerly-awaited specification on chip-on-board (COB) LED arrays. The specification, known as Zhaga Book 12, can be downloaded from the Zhaga website (//www.zhagastandard.org/books/book12).

Global leading LED manufacturer Nichia has filed another patent infringement lawsuit against U.S. TV manufacturer Vizio in Central California Court, just one day after filing a lawsuit in the Eastern Texas. Moreover, the Japanese company is enforcing its YAG patents in China, and filed a lawsuit against Everlight subsidiary and distributor in China earlier this month. Below are Nichia’s statements related to the cases:

Veeco Instruments Inc. announced today that it sold its first Predictive Analytics solution to a major data storage customer. Incorporating Rudolph Technologies, Inc.’s (NYSE: RTEC) proven fault detection and predictive maintenance software, the new platform delivers increased Veeco system productivity for maximum efficiency resulting in reduced maintenance costs.

Nichia has filed a complaint in the Eastern Court of Texas in U.S. court against American TV manufacturer Vizio for infringing its LED patent (U.S. Patent No. 8,530,250), reported Law 360 magazine.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building Technologies Office (BTO) Emerging Technologies Program is seeking information from the public regarding lamps in general illumination applications.

Prospects of the LED lighting market in Indonesia is promising and set to soar this year, due to growing electrification ratio in the country, reported Indonesia Investments.

If you have been following LEDinside news, India has been a booming market for massive streetlight retrofit projects over the last two years. Progress of LED streetlight projects in the region have been mixed, with some states and municipalities successfully implementing plans, and others lagging behind due to political, financial or technical difficulties. 

This recall involves GE Lighting high intensity discharge (HID) LED lamps. The lamps are used in lighting fixtures for warehouses, schools and gymnasiums. The lamps are 5 1/2 inches in diameter by 11 1/2 inches long and weigh about 3 pounds. The lamps were sold in a blue and white carton with “ED37/EX39 base” on the front and “PC:21259” on the back above the bar code.