Zhejiang Jingsheng Mechanical & Electrical Co. (Jingsheng) has put its sapphire project into high gear as sapphire ingot prices rise. Its subsidiary factory in Inner Mongolia has already begun installing sapphire growth furnaces. 

San’an Optoelectronics (San’an Opto) has big plans to become a force to be reckoned with both domestically and internationally. The company is expanding production capacity, releasing announcements one after another, according to a Money DJ report.

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released an Application Summary Report that focuses on the bare-lamp performance of 31 linear LED lamps intended as an alternative to T8 fluorescent lamps. 

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced awards of $4.3 million for 17 projects dedicated to reducing the environmental impact of transportation in New York State. These projects are in line with the governor’s energy vision to increase support for new and innovative clean energy technologies that help reduce dependence on fossil fuels, reduce pollution and promote a cleaner and healthier environment while supporting the growth of the economy.

Intermolecular, Inc. announced that Epistar Corp. and Intermolecular have signed a multi-year extension of their existing collaborative development program (CDP) and royalty-bearing IP licensing agreement to increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of Epistar's light emitting diode (LED) devices.

Japanese cinematographer Takao Inoue has transformed common dandelions into luminescent flowers using OLED technology, according to a Tamago and Spoon Report.

The following Blog post was written by Dietmar Thomas, Manager Brand & Integrated Communications OLED, for Philips Lumiblade. On April 18th, Philips Lumiblade OLEDs did boldly go where no other OLED has gone before. Space. What sounds like the famous beginning of the original Star Trek television series was indeed a big step for the most modern light source on earth.

San’an Optoelectronics (San’an Opto) released their first quarter fiscal 2014 financial results on April 21, 2014. Production capacity expansion to their LED subsidiaries as well as increased production sales volume boosted operating revenue by 30.7 percent. Government subsidies received in 1Q14 increased non-operating revenue 130 percent YoY.

Elech-Tech has further invested in NVC Lighting. Elec-Tech announced plans to purchase 6.76 percent in shares from Hong Kong listed NVC Lighting on April 22, 2014. This will bring the company’s total share to 27.10 percent, giving Elec-Tech greater influence over NVC Lighting. 

The year started off challenging for Philips, with currency impact from China and Russia and voluntary suspension of their healthcare production facility in Cleveland which resulted in flat comparable sales growth and decline in EBITA. Hoever, Lighting continued to deliver a YoY operational margin improvement. 

Cree, Inc. announced revenue of US $405.3 million for 3Q14, ended March 30, 2014. This represents a 16 percent increase compared to revenue of US $348.9 million reported for 3Q13. “Fiscal Q3 was a solid quarter as revenue and operating income were in line with our target range and the business is well positioned to grow in fiscal Q4,” stated Chuck Swoboda, Cree Chairman and CEO.

The LED street light replacement wave has swept the globe as local governments embrace the low energy consumption and financial advantage they offer. However, in the rush to jump on the green technology bandwagon, governments have overlooked the health issues that LEDs pose to the human body. British citizens have been less than keen over the recent installment of LEDs in boroughs throughout the country. 

Last Friday, LEDinside covered a Chinese article that pointed out Dow Corning filed lawsuits against Beijing KMT Technology Co over LED organosilicone glue patent infringment. The patent at stake is actually LED optical silicone encapsulants. The LEDinside editorial team would like to apologize for the misleading terminology translation. For more details on the case, please see Dow Corning’s press release below: 

Ottawa City in Canada has proposed halving electricity usage period by retrofitting current streetlights with LEDs, according to a report by The Ottawa Citizen.

Samsung Display aims to dominate the OLED display smartphone market with its OLED A3 fab expansion, according to a report by Business Korea.

Major consumer electronic manufacturers such as Apple, Samsung, and Sony might be battling on the smartwatch front, but for the fashion-conscious the bulky designs have been rather unattractive. Keeping aesthetics in mind, a fairly new U.S.-based company, G-Wearables Team, has launched the world’s smallest LED fitness tracker.

More than one month has passed since Philips Lumiblade posted a teaser video on its Facebook account hinting the company’s OLEDs will be traveling to space on a NASA space shuttle. The tight lipped company has finally revealed the OLED application in space, and to our surprise had nothing to do with the shuttle’s interior lighting. 

Japanese manufacturers are beginning to shift market strategies from a product sales promotion approach to value adding technologies, according to a Chinese-language Tech-On report. Manufacturers are restrategizing business approach as the LED industry matures, and profits shrink as LED prices fall.

Last Friday, HC SemiTek announced plans of investing a total of RMB 1.18 billion (US $189.4 million) in the third phase of their LED epitaxial wafer project. The company’s stocks will resume trading today. 

Two more automotive manufacturers have made the switch to LED lighting. American automotive manufacturers Dodge and Jeep, members of the Chrysler Group, have introduced new LED lighting design concepts for their upcoming models. 

LG Innotek (CEO Ung-Beom Lee) announces it has begun mass producing high output UV LED chips that delivers the world class performance.The company has developed UV LED chips that can output 560mW at a drive current of 500mA, which is world class output on a single chip. Applications include industrial hardeners, light exposure systems, and counterfeit bill detectors.

Bulbing, a LED bulb designed by Studio Checha based in Israel may appear 3D to the naked eye, but a side-view reveals the luminaires are actually flat.

As part of its commitment to environmental sustainability and promoting green building practices in its more than 4,400 restaurants, this Earth Day, Tim Hortons is announcing a new initiative to replace all existing lighting fixtures in restaurants across Canada and the United States with energy-efficient light-emitting diode (LED) lighting from Philips. The conversion program will see 485 restaurants outfitted with LED lighting in 2014 alone, translating to an estimated 6.4 million kilowatt hours (kWh) in energy savings. 

More details are unveiled about Apple’s new iPhone 6 and iWatch this week. Apple is rumored to be launching limited sapphire glass cover iPhone models, while low LG Display AMOLED yield rates are expected to postpone iWatch launch date to 4Q14. Conventional luminaire manufacturers are required to meet higher energy efficiency regulations with DOE’s proposed new standard for GSFL and IRLs. LEDinside analyst Figo Wang gives an in-depth game theory model analysis on San'an Opto's production expansion strategy. 

Apple’s much anticipated iWatch launch date might be postponed to 4Q14, as the company runs into AMOLED manufacturing issues, according to Chinese-language China Times report.

With the backing and endorsement by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, the Nanoleaf LED bulb has received a lot of attention from the media and consumers. Li believes that more attention should be paid to innovative technology to help cut energy consumption in order to alleviate poverty and boost the economy. 

Dow Corning’s Chinese subsidy has recently filed an organosilicone patent infringement case in Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court against Beijing KMT Technology, according to a Chinese language OFweek report. In the complaint, Beijing KMT Technology was accused of selling Dow Corning’s patented organosilicone products as its own.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy under the Department of Energy in U.S. has recently proposed a new lighting standard to make general service fluorescent lamps (GSFLs) and incandescent reflector lamps (IRLs) more energy efficient.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) published a white paper, NEMA LSD 40-2014 Failure Modes for Self-Ballasted Compact Fluorescent Lamps—A NEMA Update.

Researchers from Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Shizuoka University in Japan find in this latest study that broccoli aging after harvest can be delayed by red LED lights, but blue LED lights had no effect on countering the yellowing process. The study conducted by Gang Maa, Lancui Zhanga, Chandra Kurnia Setiawana, Kazuki Yamawakia et al. has been published in Postharvest Biology and Technology journal.