Taiwan’s LED chipmaker Arima Optoelectronics plans to build a new wholly-owned LED epitaxy manufacturing company in Wujiang of China's Jiangsu Province by investing US$30 million. According to Arima, the installment of new factory’s production facility will start at the end of 2010. It is expected to install 10 MOCVD sets, 10 more by mid-2011, and up to 150 sets in the next five years.

AU Optronics (AUO) expanded LED-backlit TV and monitor panels, TV panels cover from 24 -inch to 65-inch models, while monitor panels go up to as large as 27 inch. AUO noted that the proportion of LED-backlit Notebooks panels will be up to 100% at the end of this year. In addition, AUO is preparing for moving into 3D panels for TV, monitor and notebook. The company will release 65-inch 3D TV panels, 3D notebook panels and 23- and 27-inch 3D monitor panels in the next times.

Tyco Electronics (TE), a global leader in engineered electronic components and solutions, releases the solderless LED socket, Type CM, for easy integration of the new Cree XLamp® MP-L™ multichip LED into light fixtures. Introduced as a development program at LIGHTFAIR® International 2010, the product family is now available for production orders.

Eco Depot, Inc. will partner with YuYang DNU Co., Ltd. of South Korea to market cutting-edge unique LED products and lighting systems for high-volume niche indoor and outdoor markets. YuYang DNU’s marquee product is a revolutionary line of Street and Highway lighting systems targeted toward the multi-billion dollar road and highway retrofit programs, currently being mandated by municipal and state governments across North America.

BURGER KING® has equipped its first energy-efficient restaurant, opened in early June in Waghäusel, Germany, with LED lighting technology from Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. The new eco-friendly design which allows for series production and global implementation, utilizes innovative technologies and renewable energy to power one-third of the restaurant's energy consumption.

AIXTRON AG announced an order for one Black Magic deposition system in a 4-inch wafer configuration from Soochow University’s Functional Nano & Soft Materials Laboratory (FUNSOM) in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. The order was received in the first quarter of 2010 and after the system´s delivery and installment in the current quarter, the Black Magic will be used for the controlled growth of carbon nanotubes and silicon nanowires.

According to the executive of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), TSMC will hire 500-600 staff, mostly R&D-focused engineers, for the construction of a new fab at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) to produce thin-film solar PV modules, with volume production expected to kick off in 2011. Recently, for the new businesses, TSMC's board of directors decided to invest US$319.6 million. Construction on the facility began in March, and the equipment move-in for its LED fab at the Hsinchu Science Park on schedule of September.

Chicony Power Technology, a subsidiary of Chicony Electronics, plans to work with a Taiwan LED chip packaging company Unity Opto Technology by investing NT$400 million (US$12.5 million) to acquire zero-interest 5-year convertible bonds. Cooperation between the two companies hopes to aim the LED backlight units using in LCD TVs and TV power supplies through the investment.

Taiwan’s No.1 LED chipmaker Epistar Inc. has begun shipping its high-voltage (HV) chips to General Electric (GE), Philips, Osram and IKEA.

Cree, Inc. has achieved a major breakthrough in the development and wide scale commercialization of silicon carbide (SiC) technology with the demonstration of high quality, 150-mm SiC substrates with micropipe densities of less than 10/cm2.

Taiwan’s caliber electronic device maker Delta Electronics Inc. has received new orders from the Guangdong Provincial Government. Guangdong Governor Huang Hau-hau and the delegation has visited Delta in mid-August and showed intense interest in its LED streetlights and 3D projectors. Huang hua-hua mentioned that Guangdong aims to invest RMB 10 billion in solar energy, LED lighting and electric cars in the next five years during visiting Delta and praised Delta’s LED streetlights.

Veeco Instruments Inc. has announced that Tsinghua Tongfang Company, a Beijing-based, publicly listed division of the Tsinghua Holdings Company Limited, has selected Veeco as its primary supplier of Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) systems for their new light-emitting diode (LED) factory. Veeco booked the initial systems from a large multi-tool purchase order earlier this month.

Taiwan’s No.1 LED chipmaker Epistar Inc. is reportedly to will sign a patent cross-licensing agreement with its Japanese counterparts Nichia or Toyoda Gousei in a bid to further boost earnings and revenue. Once the deal is concluded Taiwan’s LED industry would see its price/earnings ratio surge to at least 20 folds as a whole from current 15 folds or so, according to the industry executives estimated.

Chinese LED lighting leader Neo-Neon will participate in the upcoming Light Middle East trade show to broaden its presence and further promote the use of environmentally friendly LED materials in the Middle East. The Light Middle East is the region's leading trade show for urban, architectural, theatrical and retail lighting solutions, which is going to be held at the Dubai International Exhibition Center on October 31 to November 02, 2010.

JP Sercel Associates, Inc. (JPSA), a leading manufacturer of laser micromachining systems for LED production, announced that the Korean Intellectual Property Tribunal ruled in favor of claimant JPSA, invalidating two of QMC’s Korean patents dealing with scribing and LLO.

Albeo Technologies Inc., a LED lighting manufacturer of Boulder, Colorado USA, is relocating its operations to 2108 55th Street in Boulder, a 20,000-square-foot facility that will house production lines, quality control and new engineering and test labs. Albeo said the company is moving from a 12,000-square-foot building at 3125 Sterling Circle in order to better serve its diverse base of customers.

Following the official launch of the Zenaro Lighting Alliance in April 2010 - a global company alliance between founding members Everlight Electronics (Taiwan), LCC (Germany) and Aphos Lighting (USA) that was established to confront the future challenges of the global lighting market by bundling the members' LED technology and lighting expertise - the foundation of a new company Zenaro Lighting GmbH was announced today.

PT Panasonic Gobel Indonesia (PGI), cooperation by Japanese electronics manufacturer Panasonic Corporation and the Gobel corporate family, has discussed how to develop its industry in Indonesia. Panasonic had made Indonesia its global production base for several products, including batteries and LED lamps. New lithium coin battery factory in Indonesia is expected to start operation in November.

The Chinese city Shanghai aims to establish itself as a national LED base with all sectors in the industry chain, from chip design, screen vendors to assembly and test. At 2010 Shanghai World Expo, more than 80 percent of indoor lighting features LED technology, which is regarded as a green technology. So, multinational and domestic LED firms also are seeking to expand their presence in the Chinese market after the Expo ends.

MCA will be hosting its next online panel discussion in cooperation with SemiNeedle, dubbed the BrightSpots LED Forum, which will enable industry professionals to partake in an active discussion exploring the key issues surrounding high-brightness LEDs - from design to manufacture.  

Dialight is reportedly that its DuroSite™ LED High Bay fixture has achieved qualifications of the DesignLights™ Consortium’s newest category, “High-bay and Low-bay fixtures for Commercial and Industrial buildings.” Utilizing the latest lighting-class Cree Xlamp® XP-G LEDs, the DuroSite LED High Bay luminaire has been shown to significantly reduce maintenance and energy consumption compared to conventional lighting in warehouses, manufacturing facilities, cold storage, canopies and gymnasiums.

Taiwan’s LED chipmaker Lextar Electronics is expanding its production capability in September in order to adopt  MOCVD machines for 6-inch epitaxial wafers, which made Lextar may be the first LED chip maker in Taiwan with such equipmentmake. Lextar pointed out that its September capacity is expected to reach 90,000 wafers and 750 million LED chips. At the end of the year, the company plans to have a capacity of 130,000 wafers per month and 850 million LED chips.

Marl has added a pink version to its 676 series of standard indicator LEDs. These rugged IP67 sealed LEDs are extremely popular for panels and status indication applications due to their wide viewing angle, according to Marl. With the addition of a pink version, Marl now offers the range of colors in its 676 series is increased to six: red, yellow, green, blue and cool white.

Veeco Instruments Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to $200 million of the Company's common stock over the next year.

AIXTRON AG announced a new order from Epilight Technology Co., Ltd, China for four CRIUS® 31x2 inch MOCVD tools. Epilight placed its order for the HB GaN LED growth reactors in the first quarter of 2010. The local AIXTRON support team will commission the new CRIUS® reactors at the company’s facility in Shanghai during the third quarter of 2010.

Future Lighting Solutions partners with Creative Technology Hong Kong Limited to produce a new line of solid state downlights under Creative Technology's Mabushi brand. The luminaires utilize Luxeon Rebel LEDs and were designed with thermal, electrical and optical support from Future's engineering team.

Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ/NGS:LFUS) has introduced the PLED5HT Series circuit protection device that increases LED lighting string reliability. This new device, available in an SOT-89 package, maintains LED string brightness while improving LED reliability for the growing market for outdoor LED lighting and high-intensity LED applications with current draw up to 700 mA.

Vector Product Family of LED Light Bulbs Save Over 3 Million Kilowatt Hours of Energy for Businesses, Schools and Municipalities Across the U.S.A.

The Carbon Company (SGL) 's isostatic graphite parts are predominantly used in the production of silicon for solar energy and semiconductor wafers as well for LEDs. To strengthen global market position, SGL Group will invest approximately €75 million into the capacity expansion of isostatic graphite to support the global growth in the solar energy, LED and semiconductor industries within the next 3 years.

The Chinese decorative lighting manufacturer Neo-Neon LED Lighting International Ltd. will open 2,000 LED lighting fixtures shops in three to five years throughout mainland China, which is estimated an investment of 500 million Chinese yuan (US$73 million). B.Y. Fan, the company’s chairman, noted that the company opened its first retail shop in Hong Kong early this year and will open a store in Taipei next year.