Rob Huston,founder at LED Canada, shares his inside look at LED's up-and-coming light bulb price war. LED lighting prices have turned many people away (in the past) from this exciting lighting technology, but that is all that about to change.

Veeco Instruments Inc. announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire privately held Synos Technology, Inc. (Synos). Synos designs and manufactures Fast Array Scanning™ Atomic Layer Deposition (FAST-ALD™) systems that are enabling the production of flexible OLED displays for mobile devices.

Lighting plays a vital role in today’s retail environments, maximizing shopping experiences and making merchandise appear its best. GE’s Infusion™ LED Module product line offers a versatile LED lighting solution that provides highly flexible LED lighting options critical for retailers who want to highlight certain products or create emphasis through a display.

Power management company Eaton today announced that its Cooper Lighting division has provided products and solutions to help Industrial Developments International (IDI), a privately held real estate company with offices across U.S., reduce energy costs at its Jurupa Valley, Calif., facility. By utilizing a range of exterior LED solutions, the company will achieve proper illumination while also realizing a total energy savings of more than 50 percent compared to metal halide equivalents.

ilumi solutions, a company focused on mobile LED lighting technology, recently launched a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter for their color tuning LED bulbs. The RGB LED bulbs share similar features to the Philips Hue bulbs, as it can be color tuned via a smartphone or tablet Bluetooth, and works on both Apple and Android systems. With 51 days to go for their fundraising campaign, ilumi has received backing from 180 supporters, with funds totaling US$ 17,325 as of date.

Xicato, a leading developer of LED modules, announced that is has expanded its Artist Series® portfolio of LED modules, adding a 2000-lumen module to give interior designers and lighting professionals the option to offer high-quality light in general lighting applications. Installations with higher ceilings, i.e., greater than 10 feet (3 meters), and fewer light points can now accommodate a better grade of lighting than is possible with fluorescent or ceramic metal halide (CMH) sources.

Philips has partnered up with Perkins Products, a provider of education, services and products to the blind, deafblind, and those with disabilities to develop LightAide, a new LED device designed as a teaching tool for children with low vision or other disabilities. Arrays of multi-colored LED lights in LightAide can be programmed and manipulated in various ways to help children get ready to learn reading, math and critical interactive skills. 

Cree, Inc. announced the industry’s first High-Density (HD) LED Arrays – a breakthrough technology that doubles the system intensity of spot lights compared to previous arrays. The new HD class of CXA Arrays provide unrivaled lumen density, enabling major reduction in system cost and power consumption. The first HD Array, the CXA1520 LED, enables lighting manufacturers to create a new generation of products that delivers the same intensity and light quality as 39W ceramic metal halide (CMH) at up to 50 percent lower power.

The Honorable Allan Gropper, Bankruptcy Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, has ordered Eastman Kodak Company to assign ownership of three patents and a patent license agreement to Global OLED Technology, LLC, a company that is an owner and licensor of over 2,400 OLED patents and patent applications. This effectively ends the lawsuit (Case No. 1:12-bk-10202 – S.D.N.Y.) that GOT filed against Kodak in December 2012. 

previous article: Interview with Ta-Wei Lin on Giant Bicycle Headquarters – Interacting with a vivid building, Making LED not to be like LED (1/2) Ta-wei Lin, a member of PLDA, is a MA of interior design (Pratt Institute) and an international lighting designer who has won IALD Award of Excellence and IIDA Award of Merit. Lin is now the principal of CMA Lighting Design, mostly focusing on lighting projects in Taiwan.

To welcome the LED lighting era, Taiwan LED wafer manufacturer Formosa Epitaxy (ForEpi) Project Manager Li Renzhi stated that as the LED industry develops into an M shaped trend, highly priced but small volume products have occupied one end of the spectrum and products with large volume but pricing considerations are on the other. Continuing reduction in price for LED chips has lead to manufacturers entering into package free wafer R&D. ForEpi’s launched their Package Free Chips and through high efficiency, large luminosity angles, and more plan to break into the LED market.

Taiwanese LED chip manufacturer, Epistar, recently showcased its latest Embedded LED Chip (ELC) technology. The new ELC product reduces lead frame and wire bonding, and only requires a chip, phosphor and glue, said Hsieh Ming-Hsun, VP, R&D, Epistar at the LED Technology Forum held in Taipei, Taiwan. As a result, the chip can directly use surface-mount technology (SMT). The ELC can be applied in advance onto backlight products, and possess advantages of wide light beam angles, continued Hsieh. There is an opportunity to omit secondary optical lenses in the future.

Taiwan LED package manufacturer Edison Opto Corp.’s board recently approved the issuance of unsecured convertible bonds amounting to NT$ 1 billion (US$ 34 million) in Taiwan. This is the second time that the company has issued unsecured convertible bonds in the domestic market. Edison Opto has a positive outlook of the LED lighting market’s continual development, and funds from the bonds will be used to expand the company’s Yangzhou, China factory that will cover high power LED components, PLCC package components, and other product line expansions.

China Solid State Lighting Alliance (CSA) has signed a strategic cooperative framework agreement with a Hungarian solar company. This enables the Hungarian company to enter the Chinese market via CSA and for Chinese companies to have the opportunity to develop their business in the Eastern European market.

DDP Engineered LED Solutions outlines some of the advantages of solid-state LED technology for utility applications in a white paper published recently.

Digital Lumens today announced that DiloSpinnbau, a manufacturer of universal and high-capacity carding machines used to process nonwoven fibers, has upgraded its 6,600 square meter manufacturing facility to the Digital Lumens Intelligent Lighting System, saving 91 percent of its lighting energy costs annually.

Panther Vision, a manufacturer and distributor of lighted headwear, eyewear and safety gear, has released the first in a series of videos that use humor to showcase their hands-free LED lighting products. “The Mechanic” takes place in an auto repair garage and features LIGHTSPECS LED lighted safety glasses. 

Ecopoint’s newest LED lighting product, a tube which features DALI Dimmable technology, is already proving to be a popular choice with commercial landlords and building owners who are looking to ‘green’ their buildings and slash their energy and maintenance costs.

Following international lighting giants Philips, OSRAM, and GE shift towards LED lighting, local manufacturers from various countries followed suit. CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets most recent report showed a good outlook for LED lighting market development in 2014 and believes that LED lighting demands will be the driver for LED manufacturing capital expenditures in 2014. They predict that global numbers for new MOCVD units in 2014 will increase compared to 2013, reaching an estimated 390 units.

During a recent webinar, Shenzhen ChangFang Lighting Secretary of the Board Qinqin Wu expressed that the company’s LED packaging products and LED application products will continue to be the main business direction for the company and that in the future the company will have a fixed position as leader in the LED lighting field as an internationalized local brand.

The advancement in LED wafer and packaging technology and continual decrease in price is the driver for the upcoming lighting era. Philip SSL Fellow George Craford pointed out that LED packaging component prices have been dropping following the increase in energy efficiency.

U.S.-based LED lighting designer Joey Nicotera has unveiled a colorful suspended interior installation for the Boston Science Museum recently. The Capturing the Arc display is made of 27 LED acrylic arcs etched with small dots in a grid, and appears transparent when the power is turned off. The arcs uses a total of 4,385 color changing LEDs, and nearly one mile of wiring. The arc’s large surface to weight ratio allows it move freely to the lobby breeze.

Over 2000 Robe Lighting LEDWash fixtures are in action on a series of high profile stands – including Audi, BMW, Mini. Opel, Porsche, Seat and Volkswagen, at the 65th International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt, Germany.

The TALEXXconverter TOP series offers precise output current control, high efficiency and flexibility. This third series rounds off Tridonic's new converter portfolio which can now provide the right device for any application.

Vibe's existing weatherproof battens, strips of high quality Tridonic LED modules, which produce light outputs similar to fluorescent tubes, are installed to replace the tubes. Featuring a high LOR frosted diffuser to soften the light and engineered quality heat management, these fittings ensure high performance and long life.

Philips Hue, has been installed at the Photon Project’s Photon Pod at the London Design Festival. The all-glass pod is a prototype for the Photon Project that will collect invaluable data and insights on the links between light, and health and wellbeing over a planned four-year period. The Photon Project is a scientific study initiated by glass engineering company Cantifix, and Oxford University, to explore in detail the effects of light on the biological clock – which in turn affects the health, wellbeing, mood and behavior of each of us.

Ta-Wei Lin, a member of PLDA, is a MA of interior design (Pratt Institute) and an international lighting designer who has won IALD Award of Excellence and IIDA Award of Merit. Lin is now the principal of CMA Lighting Design, mostly focusing on lighting projects in Taiwan. In 2012, he won IESNA Illumination Award by his lighting design, Giant Bicycle Headquarters in Taichung, Taiwan. We are very honored to have such a chance to interview Mr. Lin on his award-winning project.

Sapphire substrate applications have shifted from LED to smartphones, according to a report by Taiwanese media UDN. Apple was the first to apply the material in its iPhone home button, and has recently expanded sapphire substrate applications to fingerprint recognition sensors, camera outer case, and even the entire smartphone monitor. As a result, Taiwanese manufacturers are close to full production capacity. ACME Electronics Corp. subsidiaries including USI Optronics Corp., Crystal Applied Technology Inc., ProCrystal Technology Co., and Crystalwise Technology Inc. have launched a new wave of expansion.

Taiwan LED packaging manufacture Everlight and Japanese LED manufacture Nichia’s patent war continues with both sides refusing to back down. The dispute however has not affected J.P. Morgan’s outlook for Everlight’s Q3 and Q4 operations. J.P. Morgan believes that recognized earnings for street light bids and German subsidiary WOFI’s recognized earnings for the second half of the year will be expected to increase around 10 percent for Q3. Revenue for Q4 is expected to continue rising.

The Düsseldorf District Court in Germany’s ruling of Taiwan package manufacturer Everlight’s infringement of Japanese LED packager Nichia YAG patents on Sept. 3, 2013 will have limited impact on Everlight, according to a recent J.P. Morgan report. The financial institute upheld its positive outlook that Everlight’s procurement of German lighting manufacturer WOFI in 2Q13 will generate a positive Return of Equity (ROE) for investors.