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.

The State Key Laboratory of Solid State Lighting (SKLSSL) under China’s Ministry of Science and Technology has recently set up a meeting to discuss publication of LED standards in Beijing, China. The organization has mainly been responsible for drafting semiconductor lighting specs.

A group of researchers from University of Illinois have found in a study that windowless offices had a negative impact on workers health and could cause sleep issues, according to a report by Co. Design.

Huayue Electronics (Huayue), a manufacturer and international distributor of LED lighting products announced that Slovenia’s second largest city Maribor intends to use greener LED streetlights. The Chinese manufacturer has submitted a proposal through wholly-owned subsidiary, Changzhou Huayue Electronics, to retrofit the city streetlights is still under review.

Taiwan and China’s LED markets have been affected by market rumors this morning of rising LED tariffs in China, with Chinese manufacturers in general reaping in profits, while neighboriing Taiwan manufacturers saw stock prices drop.The disruptive market rumor has proven to be false by a source from  China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC), according to a report from Chinese financial media NetEase.

Earlier this morning, LED stocks on Taiwan’s bourse riveted from market rumors surrounding China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) plans of raising LED tariffs, but LED manufacturers have refuted receiving any related government notices.

The U.S. Department of Energy has published the 2014 edition of the Solid-State Lighting Manufacturing R&D Roadmap. The Roadmap complements the SSL R&D Multi-Year Program Plan that guides the Core and Product Development R&D programs. One of the goals of the Roadmap is to guide the Manufacturing R&D program and help direct funding solicitations for it.

Applications for Visible Light Communication (VLC) systems are now extending into the realm of advanced automobile systems, according to several technology reports.

Canadian City Ottawa has reported new LED streetlights installed since Fall last year have helped cut energy bills by nearly 75 percent, according to local paper The Times report.

Revolution Lighting Technologies (“Revolution Lighting”) announced that it has entered into a three year loan and security agreement with Bank of America. The agreement allows Revolution Lighting to borrow up to US $25 million on a revolving basis.

Princeton University is making campus lighting more sustainable and efficient one fixture at a time. Through the Lighting Efficiency Upgrade Program, the University will convert more than 100,000 fixtures to light-emitting diode (LED) technology in buildings across campus. The improvements will significantly reduce carbon emissions, promote cost savings and limit waste.

Product testing and ceritifcation organization DEKRA outlines some of the recent changes in Mexico and Australia's LED standards.

DOE has revised its October 2013 report, Dimming LEDs with Phase-Cut Dimmers: The Specifier's Process for Maximizing Success, to include updated information about the installation of LED lighting and controls at the Burden Museum in Troy, NY, a GATEWAY project that was still in construction when the original report was published.

Echelon Corporation, open-interoperable control networking pioneer for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), announced that it has acquired Lumewave Inc., a wireless outdoor lighting control system provider with a strong track record selling its solution to U.S. municipalities, universities, medical facilities and enterprises.