Over the past few years, Japan has seen an upsurge in energy conservation awareness. In the wake of the Tohoku earthquake in 2011, the government has even proposed plans for a “low-carbon society”. LED products have since experienced rapid popularization becoming the poster child for energy saving products. A recent survey shows the Japanese LED market size will undergo explosive growth in 2012 of 195 percent to $420.4 billion Japanese yen (US $4.2 billion),as reported by Liberty Times.

Photonics Industry and Technology Development Association (PIDA) compiled a list of the top 10 global LED lighting manufactures, according to Economic Daily News, with international heavy weights Philips, Osram, and Panasonic among the top three. No Taiwanese manufacturers made the list. Taiwanese lighting brands currently include China Electric, Everlight, Delta, Tatung, Adata, Tsannkuen, and Leotek.

Taiwanese upstream LED chip manufacturers’ 3Q13 financial results showed gross profit margin improvements.

Philips and Desso - global leaders in lighting and carpets respectively - today announce a partnership agreement to develop solutions that combine LED lighting with light transmissive carpet. This innovation will further unlock the potential of LED integration into surfaces and adds an exciting dimension to interior design and space planning. The solution will transform the way people interact with information and their environment in offices, hotels, conference centers and other public buildings.

Wavien, Inc. announces the opening of a unique custom products service that can build targeted prototypes with various types and brands of LEDs, RLT recycling collars, lenses, and heat-sinks. Wavien, as a technology development and licensing company, establishes this service to provide a user-friendly process for potential licensees to evaluate the RLT technology, build initial products, test market, and eventually license Wavien's technology.

Large international brands including Nichia, Osram, and Toyoda Gosei have begun to work more closely together in exchanging authorized patents to increase market control, noted Fan Bing, technical director of the software and integrated circuit promotion center under China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). Big brands patent partnership strategies aim to monopolize high-end technologies and markets, and to acquire higher profits before the semiconductor lighting market matures. 

Smartphones are driving up demands for flash LED. Aside from Philips Lumileds, Cree, Osram and other leading global manufacturers in the flash market, Taiwanese and Korean manufacturers are also entering the market. Samsung plans to switchits flash LED package specs from 4139 to 2016. Following various manufacturers  production launch, industry insiders estimate larger price cuts for flash LEDs in 1Q14.

Taiwan package manufacturer Harvatek reported a turnaround in 3Q13 after seven straight quarters of loss. Benefiting from an increase of 50 to60 percent in production capacity utilization rate in 3Q as well as investments of NT $22.39 million (US $758 thousand) in 3Q, revenue reached NT $1.24 billion, a quarterly growth of 9.86 percent.

Taiwanese LED packager Edison Opto’s  3Q13 financial results showed the company’s consolidated revenue reached NT$ 826 million (US$ 27.99 million) and underwent a Year-on-Year (YoY) growth rate of 44.89 percent and Quarter-on-Quarter (QoQ) of 1.6 percent. Under market cutthroat price competition in 2Q, consolidated profit margin was up 7.7 percent compared to 2Q13 to 19.97 percent.

The advancements made in chip architecture and phosphor technology are the key ingredients to the performance enhancement of the new high-power LED Z5-M1 series.The efficacy enhancements in the new Z5-M1 series not only ensure a reduction in luminaire development costs incurred by Seoul Semiconductor customers, but also enable the best possible color over angle homogeneity with the new phosphor coating technology

Konica Minolta Sensing Americas, Inc. (KMSA), the worldwide leader in the industrial measurement of color and light, is continuing to build on its industry-leading position in light and display measurement technology by exploring new business opportunities and gaining entry into new markets with the newly acquired Instrument Systems GmbH (IS) product line. Beginning third quarter 2013, the company gained exclusive distribution rights to Instrument Systems product portfolio in North America and Canada following the acquisition by Konica Minolta Optics, Inc. (KMOP).

Ultra-modern LED projection technology: Once behind the wheel, the Opel Monza Concept whisks you away into a completely new and unique world of instruments and infotainment with a wide, sculpted multi-function panel that sweeps from door to door.

The Empire State Building towers will light purple today in honor of the third annual World Prematurity Day. Parent groups and organizations worldwide are joining together to raise awareness of the serious problem of premature birth. An estimated 15 million babies around the world are born too soon every year, including nearly half a million in the United States. Learn more about what you can do to help, and send your family and friends a “virtual hug” to show you care about premature babies at facebook.com/WorldPrematurityDay. Special thanks to the Empire State Building for supporting 2013 World Prematurity Day.

Why should we pay attention to OLEDs? Rumors this week pointed Apple plans to make iPhone 6 an OLED phone. With the company’s previous trend setting records, it might be creating a window of opportunity for OLED displays to go mainstream. More Apple news, TechCrunch gives an in depth analysis on the company’s recent hefty sapphire substrate investments in GT Advanced Technologies and technology behind it to keep sapphire substrate costs low. LEDinside has also released its new price reports this week. Please see below for more:

Embattled Taiwanese LED packager Everlight and Japanese manufacturer Nichia both published press releases on Nov. 6, 2013 regarding their latest YAG patent dispute in China. The two companies ongoing patent wars has rekindled LED industry interests on patent issues. Aside from potential patent disputes from Nichia, Taiwanese manufacturers should also pay attention to Philips patent alliance formation, said Hsieh Chia-fen, Engineer for Electronics and Optoelectronics Technologies at Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). 

Shenzhen Refond Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. announced on November 13th that the Refond joint venture proposal with TCL and Yu Star Enterprise was passed during the second annual board of directors 5th deliberation meeting held on July 16th, 2013.

Taiwan package manufacturer Everlight released their 3Q financial data on November 13th 2013. Benefitting from street light recognized bids and recognized revenue from German subsidiary, the company’s 3Q revenue reached NT $6.99 billion (US $ 236 million), growth of 17.74 percent from 2Q. Gross profit reached NT $486 million, an increase of 21.23 percent from Q2. Earnings per share was NT$ 1.18 for 3Q13.

Cheil Industries, a Samsung Group company specializing in textiles, will invest up to 1.8 trillion won (US $1.7 billion) for the next three years in high value-added electronic and chemical materials. The company said this on November 7 in a regulatory filing. The areas it will focus on include OLED (organic light-emitting diode), rechargeable battery separators, and polarized film.

Two more interface specifications for LED light engines have been published by the Zhaga Consortium. Zhaga is an international organization that is enabling the interchangeability of LED light sources made by different manufacturers.

The EU’s GLADIATOR project (FP7 grant agreement number 604000) began on 1st November 2013 and will finish in April 2017 after 42 months. GLADIATOR seeks to improve the quality and size of CVD graphene sheets, and to reduce their production costs, in order to make the use of graphene more attractive e.g. in applications such as transparent electrodes for large area organic electronics. According to analysis by OLED-info, the new technology developed will be demonstrated in the production of large flexible OLEDs. 

The Eindhoven region will receive the first innovative bicycle path in the Netherlands. The 600 meters long bicycle path runs where Vincent van Gogh lived from 1883 to 1885 and will have a unique design comprising thousands of sparkling stones designed by artist Daan Roosegaarde. The bicycle path will be designed by Studio Roosegaarde and Heijmans and is part of a joint venture between the municipality of Eindhoven, Van Gogh Brabant, Vrijetijdshuis Brabant, Eindhoven 365 and Routebureau Brabant.

EarthTronics announced that its Energy Star rated 23 watt LED Recessed Fixture Retrofit kit,  13 watt BR30 floodlight, and 13 watt A19 omni-directional LED light bulb exceed the voluntary California Quality Light Emitting Diode (LED) Lamp Specification issued by the California Energy Commission (CEC) for LED lamps used in residential applications. This new specification, commonly referred to as “CEC” or “California Quality Spec,” has set a LED lamp performance baseline for utilities to consider that is more stringent than Energy Star.

The USS Missouri has signed an agreement with Axis LED Lighting to retrofit the museum battleship with state of the art LED lighting and has retained the consultant firm Allana Buick & Bers to assist them in the overall energy retrofit. LED Lighting will greatly reduce the energy needed to light the historic site. Axis LEDs reduce energy consumption by up to 70%, last three times longer than conventional lighting and generate virtually no heat when compared to conventional lighting. 

Chinese display manufacturer BOE Technology Corp. (BOE) has released their 3Q13 financial report. Gross revenue for July-Sept. 2013 reached RMB 8.52 billion (US $1.4 billion) with a gross profit margin at RMB 499 million, doubling from last year. Furthermore, the company has profited for four straight quarters.

Wireless micro-LED devices are allowing researchers to use optogenetics to uncover information about molecular and cellular events in the brain that underlie stress, addiction and depression.

Veeco Instruments Inc. announced that the Guangdong Redsolar Photovoltaic Tech Co., Ltd (Redsolar), a leading producer of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar cells in China, has purchased multiple TurboDisc® K475™ As/P MOCVD (metal organic chemical vapor deposition) Systems. The TurboDisc K475 MOCVD tool is a fully integrated deposition system that creates high quality compound semiconductor layers for CPV devices.  

Power management company Eaton and its Cooper Lighting division are proving that LED fixtures can provide more than just energy savings with a recent project for Georgia-based car dealership, Nalley Honda-Buick-GMC-Isuzu located in Brunswick. To showcase automobiles and reduce energy expenses, Eaton’s Cooper Lighting business teamed up with Georgia Power to install 76 Streetworks Galleon LED fixtures, resulting in impressive illumination and an overall energy savings of 60 percent.

Confidence in LED solutions increased with extension of driver warranties when luminaires are thermally validated and use modules from Xicato and drivers from Harvard Engineering.

Chinese LED chip manufacturer HC Semitek announced recently, the company received RMB 6 Million (US$ 990,000) MOCVD subsidy from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The subsidy that was recently approved by the ministry was applied under the “Domestic MOCVD development/ Industrialization of ultra bright LED” from the ministry’s “2013 Electronic Communication Industry Development Fund Project Guide”. Under the project, all funding provided needs to be invested into equipment or material procurement. 

TCL group has announced “Huaxing Power two first 8.5-genertion TFT-LCD (including oxide semiconductor and AMOLED) production line construction project proposal”was passed during a recent  shareholders’ meeting.