Cree and Lextar’s investment agreement has caught the industry’s attention this week. Cree will become Lextar’s second largest shareholder after investing US $83 million to acquire 13% stake in the company. The U.S. manufacturer is most likely seeking a long-term economic LED chip supplier to retain a competitive edge in the market, according to LEDinside’s Research Director Roger Chu. 

DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Loan Programs announced a solicitation making up to $4 billion in loan guarantees available for innovative renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in the U.S. that avoid, reduce, or sequester greenhouse gases. This solicitation represents the next step in DOE's commitment to support the deployment of innovative clean-energy technologies at commercial scale in the U.S.

The commercialization of OLED lighting continues to accelerate, with a growing list of companies announcing their intention to enter the market. Although traditional lighting companies are active, seeking to safeguard their position with regards to OLED lighting, there are many new entrants that want to challenge these incumbents and shift the dynamics of the industry. 

LED Roadway Lighting Ltd. (LRL) is pleased to announce the appointment of Peter Conlon as Chief Executive Officer. The announcement completes the transition of the Company’s founder Charles Cartmill, who will retain his majority ownership stake in the company and his position on the Board of Directors. “With the appointment of Mr. Conlon as CEO and the recent appointment of Denis Lavoie as Company President, I feel confident that the business is in excellent hands and feel comfortable in stepping back to enjoy my retirement from the day-to-day operations.”

With the rise of the wearable smart devices, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) showcases many futuristic, wearable devices with interactive touch control functions at Touch Taiwan 2014 with the theme of "Smart Living, Keep in Touch". Such devices include a wearable and foldable AMOLED wrist band with interactive touch control and display functions.

Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission recently approved Epistar and FOREPI’s merger.

IKEA GreenTech, an IKEA Group venture capital company, announced today that it has invested in Design LED Products Ltd, a Scottish company with a unique technology for a whole new generation of lighting products using energy efficient “light tiles” – LEDs embedded into clear resins and films. The tiles are unique as they are extremely thin, flexible and low cost and can be seamlessly joined together in exciting new designs.

North American lighting leader OSRAM SYLVANIA has been recognized with a prestigious R&D 100 Award for the new OSRAM ITOS® PHASER® 3000, the industry’s first laser and LED-based white light module for microscopy, endoscopy and surgical head lamps that delivers the same brightness as 300W Xenon lamps with significantly higher efficacy and lamp life.

Digital Lumens today announced that Ace Hardware Corporation, the world’s largest hardware cooperative, has upgraded the lighting in areas of its 1,000,000 square foot Rocklin, Calif., Retail Support Center to the Digital Lumens Intelligent LED Lighting System. Since implementing the upgrade in October 2013, Ace Hardware saved an average of 81 percent  on its lighting-related energy use.

Ledionopto,a commercial lighting brand in Taiwan. The extensive marketing and development experience makes Ledionopto expanding the brand awareness in the commercial lighting market. The product line not only contain the illumination in shopping arcade, restaurant, and residential, also, it cross-cutting in special color-appearing lighting market this year. The new products which include “Ruby” Light, for fresh meat lighting application, bakery lighting” Aroma”, and “Snowhite” which can contract the color of white clothes and dressing.

At a press conference held in Taipei today, David Su, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Lextar spoke about how the company sealed the US $83 million investment deal with leading U.S. LED manufacturer Cree.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a recall alert for Cree CXB Series LED high-bay indoor light fixtures over reported cases of broken glass lenses. Consumers should stop using this product unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

Leading U.S. LED manufacturer Cree surprised the LED industry on Aug.26, 2014 with the announcement of an investment partnership totaling US $83 million to purchase 83 million Lextar shares at a price of NT$30 (US $1.00) per share. The company also stated the partnership included long-term LED chip supply agreement and royalty-bearing license agreements for certain Cree LED chips. Why has Cree decided to invest in Lextar now?

Cree, a market leader in LED lighting, and Lextar Electronics Corporation (TAIEX: 3698), today announced that the companies have entered into an agreement whereby Cree will make an investment in Lextar and the companies will enter into a supply agreement for sapphire-based LED chips. As part of the agreement, Cree will invest approximately US $83 million to purchase 83 million Lextar shares at a price of NT$30 (US $1.00) per share. 

Earlier this month, Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei’s Chief Executive Officer Chengdong Yu showed a brand new sapphire glass cover smartphone during a press conference, according to a Chinese-language TechWeb report.

In the last article, LEDinside summarized upstream Chinese LED manufacturers performance during first half of 2014, now it is time to inspect midstream and downstream sectors.

India’s Union ministry of urban development has requested the country’s state governments to fully replace to LED streetlights, an India Times report cited ELCOMA India saying.

LG is showing its ambition in the OLED TV sector, as it begins receiving pre-orders for 65-inch Ultra OLED TVs, according to a Yonhap report.

SORAA Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Mike Krames sheds light on U.S. Department of Energy’s latest MR 16 CALiPER report and the impact of lumens on lighting.

Jan Willem Vogel, who is responsible for global business development and marketing at NXP, delves into LED grow light applications in this latest blog entry.

Bycatching, defined in the fishing industry of accidentally catching unwanted fish and marine species are a threat to the marine ecosystem and endangered marine species.

Longtime leader in commercial and industrial grade lighting equipment Larson Electronics has announced the release of a 300 watt hazardous area LED light fixture designed for recessed panel mounting. LED technology and a compact design make this lamp an excellent replacement upgrade option for paint booths and hazardous locations where flammable chemical vapors are present.

With many LED manufacturers releasing their latest revenue performance in August 2014, LEDinside will now review and rate their performance as “excellent”, “pass” or “fail”.

As the global LED lighting demand kicks off, patent wars are becoming the inevitable. There are, however, tricks in patent applications. U.S. LED manufacturer Cree for example cast an encompassing network with its proposal of “my patents include all light emitting products.” In comparison, Taiwanese LED manufacturers have been too conservative in their approach, which can easily be avoided.

In the Western hemisphere, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has earned a reputation of being an Apple wannabe. Whether it is in the phone’s exterior design or operation system interface, Xiaomi tends to mimic Apple’s every detail (TechCrunch even made a graphic comparison last week to deliver the point), so it probably is not too surprising that it now wants sapphire glass for its premium smartphones too.

Wearable devices are still in its early phases, where manufacturers can be creative in design. Ritot, a Ukraine-based startup has abandoned screen designs, who needs a LED or OLED screen displays if all the information you need can be projected onto your wrist?

LEDinside posted a short piece about the breathtaking LED basketball court Kobe Bryant used to coach young Chinese players during his summer tour with Nike, more details about the high-tech basketball court were revealed recently by the sport attire giant and Gizmodo.

Untrue market rumors claiming China’s Ministry of Commerce was planning to raise LED tariffs disrupted the stock market in both China and Taiwan yesterday. Sources from the ministry not only noted the rumor was false, but that the ministry was not responsible for implementing or deciding whether tariffs should be imposed. Where the market rumor came from? We don’t know. But Taiwanese manufacturers and investors have already taken a blow.

Taiwanese LED stocks plunged on Aug. 21, 2014 over rumors of Chinese government’s intention to raise LED tariffs. To clarify market rumors, LED manufacturers Lite-On, Everlight, Epistar and Unity Opto all stated they did not receive any notices regarding increased tariffs from Chinese authorities, and an uptick in tariffs would have limited impact since they all had LED factories in China. These Taiwanese LED manufacturers also emphasized delivering good revenue performances for August 2014.

Intensified market competition in the Chinese market caused local manufacturers to turn their attention to emerging oversea markets. Russia has become a dark horse in China’s LED industry, quickly ascending to second largest export market status in less than one year. In 2013, the country could not even be found among China’s top five LED export markets.