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.

Osram has fully achieved and partially even exceeded its targets for the fiscal year that ended in September 2013. Revenue rose two percent year over year on a comparable basis – meaning excluding portfolio and currency effects – to almost €5.3 billion (US$ 7.93 billion), with a rising dynamic in the final quarter. The revenue share of LED-based products and solutions increased from around 25 percent in fiscal 2012 to 29 percent in the past year. 

Philips Lighting North America announced that it was recently awarded a 10 year performance lighting contract with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). Washington Metro Goes Green & Saves Green with Philips Performance Lighting Contract, Delivering on Sustainability Goals with 15 Million kWh Saved Annually. Innovative new multi-year, turn-key lighting-as-a-service model gives WMATA brighter, safer LED lighting for garages, with none of the up-front cost.

Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic may be the oldest orthopaedic practice in New Connitecut, U.S., but with the opening of their new 98,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art practice headquarters and surgery center in northwest Raleigh, they’ve stepped into the 21st century in a big way.

Once upon a time, office space was a combination of cubicles and file cabinets, computer terminals and conference areas. But changes in technology have contributed to a transformation of the look and feel of the workplace. Current research and emerging practices suggest that attention to office lighting design can go a long way in making the office work better, feel more comfortable and invite greater collaboration. 

Leading Taiwanese LED company Lextar will be unable to avoid impact from 4Q13 low season, according to Credit Suisse reports. However, the company is expected to benefit from the rebounding LED industry in 2014. Lextar lighting revenue is expected to soar 40 percent as new clients join in and investments from old clients. With rising number of Chinese clients, the backlight market performance is expected to be better than average market performance.

Kingsun announced that they have signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Guangdong Qingyuan High-Tech Industrial Development Zone management committee on November 11th.

Taiwan LED package company Everlight consolidated revenue for October reached NT $2.24 billion (US $ 76 million), a drop of 7.22 percent from September but an increase of 31.26 compared to October last year. Due to 2Q merger and acquisition of German light fixture manufacturer WOFI, September amount recognized reached a peak causing October to drop slightly leading to a slide in revenue from September to October.

Reasons behind Apple’s heavy investments in GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT) sapphire substrates go beyond iPhone component demands, according to a TechCrunch report. Aside from home buttons and camera lens cover demands, the sapphire substrate’s crystalline properties is also a reason as to why Apple is extending its interest in this area.

Intelligent LED street lights that are capable of eavesdropping pedestrian conversation from U.S. based company Intellistreets have been installed in Las Vegas City Hall, according to a Daily Mail report. The new lights are largely funded with government aid and come with video and audio recording capacities. This has raised concerns from local residents that the “surveillance lights” could invade personal space and privacy.

Global chip manufacturer TSMC has been attending international conventions this year to increase exposure for newly developed package free phosphor-on-die (PoD) technology. Optimistic about the economic performance for TSMC Solar and TSMC Solid State Lighting, the company plans to list the two businesses on the stock market in the next few years, said Morris Chang chairman of TSMC.

Taiwanese package manufacturer Unity Opto on November 8th released their 3Q financial data. Affected by 3Q weak backlight demands, 3Q consolidated revenue reached NT $1.73 billion (US $58 million), sliding 13.73 percent from 2Q. 3Q profit dropped 65 percent from 2Q NT $108 million to NT $37.5 million in 3Q.

A recent report by Chinese-language newspaper Commercial Times noted a new phenomenon of Chinese companies headhunting  talent in Taiwan's LED industry. Three years ago, Chinese LED manufacturer San’an Optoelectronics uprooted a large number of engineers from leading Taiwanese LED company Epistar. The event was coined as the “108 Heros Incident” by Chinese media. Now, Chinese companies headhunting activities have escalated in scale and scope.Headhunting activities are also implementing Central Committee of the Communist Party’s “Ten Thousand People Plan” (literal translation) to obtain oversea ethnic-Chinese talent.

LIGHTING JAPAN 2014, an important exhibition and conference for LED/OLED lighting, will take place in 2 months. Newly joined by global giants such as Philips, GE and many others, LIGHTING JAPAN is further strengthened as the Asian hub of the lighting industry. Attend LIGHTING JAPAN 2014, meet all the key players from the world’s LED/OLED lighting industry and make the good start of next year.

Yankon announced the company has finally received cleared funds for the 2012 high-power lighting product promotion subsidy from the government.

DOE has published a new report, Dimming LEDs with Phase-Cut Dimmers: The Specifier's Process for Maximizing Success. The report was created in response to issues raised about dimming by energy efficiency organizations and specifiers, and is based on experience from CALiPER testing and GATEWAY demonstrations.