After landing big orders for LED lightings and winning bids for supplying solar cell panels, Delta Electronics Inc. projected its annual revenue to grow 5% from 2008 to hit NT$150 billion in 2009, despite the lingering global economic downturn.  

Two rival LED makers, Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. and Nichia Corporation announced that they have settled all litigations on patent and other issues as well as other legal disputes currently pending between them in the United States, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, and Korea. The settlement includes a cross license agreement covering LED and laser diode technologies, which will permit the companies to access all of each other's patented technologies.

Introduced at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the new Ford Mustang boasts the latest lighting technology by OSRAM. The American sports car, which hits the market in 2010, features variable LED interior lighting with OSRAM TOPLED. The JOULE LED system is the basis for the American muscle car’s rear signal lighting and gives the car a modern look as well as added efficiency and security.

Gallium Nitride (GaN), a man-made semiconductor used to make LEDs, emits brilliant light but uses very little electricity. New GaN LED lighting has the potential to make LEDs a household fixture, but high production costs have made GaN lighting too expensive for wide spread use in homes and offices. However the Cambridge University based Centre for Gallium Nitride has developed a new way of making GaN which could produce LEDs for a tenth of current prices.

Bridgelux, Inc., a leading supplier of energy-saving LED technology, has introduced an LED array product line which provides high performance, compact and cost-effective light sources for solid-state lighting (SSL). Bridgelux says that its LED Arrays have been specifically developed to provide lamp and luminaire manufacturers with a solution that will simplify system level integration thereby reducing the system cost. The array can be used in applications including task, accent, spot, track, down light, wide area and security lighting.

Japanese component manufacturer Rohm Semiconductor will begin selling LED-based lighting fixtures for offices and commercial facilities in March, according to a recent report. It’s disclosed that the company will sell five types of LED light fixtures, each shaped like an incandescent or fluorescent light and containing several hundred of Rohm's 1-3 mm sq. LED chips. The company had prototype versions of the fixtures on its booth at the Electronica tradeshow in November 2008 (see photo).

South Korea's LG Display, announced that it had signed a deal with U.S.-based Cree Inc. to secure supply of LED chips for its flat screen products. LG Display reportedly signed a supply agreement in early January.

Everlight Electronics Co. Ltd. (TSE: 2393) announced today the restructuring of the company’s business units to better position themselves as a leader in the fast-growing, global LED industry. Everlight’s organizational changes will help the company respond to the worldwide demand for ‘greener,’ more environmentally friendly LED lighting.

CES 2009 helped mark a number of upcoming technological trends that have either already reached the market or are about to do so in the next 12 months. Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED) display technology made an impact at CES 2009.

Tomar Electronics, Inc. has announced Tomar Custom Designsm a service providing design and manufacturing of LED and strobe based lighting solutions for OEM partners. Tomar Electronics has a 40-year history of manufacturing its own brand of lighting products for emergency warning, industrial safety, and machine vision applications. Tomar Custom Designsm now provides this design and production experience to other manufacturers looking for LED-based solutions for emergency warning systems, industrial safety, and machine vision applications.

Bridgelux Inc., a leading supplier of energy-saving LED technology for high-volume, solid-state lighting markets, announced the award of a U.S. patent for its surface mountable chip (SMC) LED design.  

LED lighting was a $400 million market in 2008, however, experts predicts that this market will see an impressive compound annual growth rate of 35%, which will cause the market to grow to $1,8 billion by the end of the forecasted period.

Arrow Electronics, Inc. and key suppliers of lighting components including Magtech Industries,OPTEK Technology, SRAM Opto Semiconductors and Tyco Electronics will sponsor the LED Luminaire Design Competition in association with the California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC) at the University of California, Davis.

With the advancing adaptation of LED application in signage, mobile, backlighting and general lighting, Edison Opto continues to exceed industry expectation and introduces 100W EdiStar series into its ultra high power product line.

Baytek Electronics, a high-end LED & LED-lighting manufacturer, announces that it will release its new product line. With the adaption of LED enabled lighting by many lighting companies, the need was created for a high tech replacement of the industrial standard AR111. The company says after many months of development and testing they released their OLS-MPSD16W series with unmatched thermal and optical performance, available in NW and WW this with several viewing angles and 16W power.

Festering market of LCD panels, the major applications of various backlights, has compelled Taiwan Lamp maker Wellypower Optronics Corp. to shift business emphasis to lighting. The company will ramp up output of LED emitters and LED lighting fixtures to find an outlet for LED chips from Lextar Electronics Corp., which is a member of the AUO Group as is Wellypower.

LedEngin, Inc. has bridged the gap between LED technology and conventional lighting with the introduction of LuxSpot, the first in a family of innovative, high brightness LED lighting modules. Ultra-compact LuxSpot is powered by LedEngin's industry leading multichip LED emitters, exceeding performance of 35W halogen equivalent. LuxSpot provides 60% savings in power consumption compared to a halogen source, and with a service life more than 10 times longer.

Avago Technologies announced the availability of one of the world’s brightest 5 mm through-hole (TH) round LED lamps. The company says the LEDs are idea for use in a variety of electronic sign and signal (ESS) applications.

Drayton Harbor Resources, Inc. announces that it has entered an agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of LED Power Inc. of Nevada.


Recently, IST Ltd has appointed three new strategic partners to distribute its downlighters, LED drivers and other LED lighting products in Sweden, Finland, Poland and Ireland. IST’s growing network of distributors will be Stockholm Lighting Company in Sweden and Finland, Alfa-Zeta in Poland and Enlighten, part of the Fantasy Lights Group, in Ireland.

LED market is expected to be a rare bright spot—no pun intended—in what is forecast to be an otherwise dismal year for the semiconductor industry in 2009, according to a recent report. The reported noted that aided by rising demand from LCD TV makers, revenue from LEDs is expected to increase by 2.9% in 2009, following 10.8% growth in 2008. In contrast, the overall semiconductor market is set to decline by 9.4% in 2009.

Three innovative patent design LED is energy-saving, vibration resistant, compact, and low in power consumption and attenuation; it also has other numerous advantages such as long service life, suitable for low-temperature environments, and high luminous efficiency. LEDs have much potential in indoor lighting development, yet their cooling problem is the bottleneck that affects high-power LED to be popularized.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released the first draft of Energy Star criteria for integral LED lamps and has posted these potential criteria on its web site. DOE has also explained why integral LED lamps are being included in the Energy Star program at this point and given an overview of the approach the agency took to decide on certain criteria. Also listed are several key issues that are up for debate and the expected timeline for revising and finalizing these criteria. What is an integral lamp?

Due to short-term market demand and uncertain outlook, Royal Philips Electronics has announced that it will impair the book value of its Lumileds business by EUR 232 million (approximately $305 million). During the company’s investor and analyst day, this move was initially indicated. Philips said the value adjustment was a consequence of reduced short-term market demand and uncertain outlook caused by the current macro economic downturn.

Opto Tech Corp. and Nichia Corp. will go further on LED cooperation, with Nichia pledging to increase supply of LED chips to its partner in return for Opto Tech’s commitment to making its chips on a contract basis and selling more of Nichia-branded chips to packagers.

LED industry would recover earlier than other industries this year in consideration of incremented uses of the lamps in notebook computers, monitors, LCD TVs, lighting fixtures and outdoor signages, according to estimation form Taiwan LED makers. Tatung Group, one of leading Taiwan manufacturer of household appliances and information-technology products, says the company will contract Formosa Epitaxy Inc. to supply LED chips this year.

Over the past few years, Taiwan LED manufacturers, from chipmakers and packagers to lighting-module and lamp makers, are beginning to see a payoff from energy efficient products. Taiwan has ranked No. 2 in the global LED supplier, with 2008 revenue estimated to reach around US$1.9 billion, or 26% of world’s total.

Cree, Inc.announces that it has entered into an exclusive patent license agreement, subject to some exceptions, with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC), a well-known and respected materials supplier.

Toronto-based Lumolar has developed unusual fish-shaped LED luminaries. The company says they can shift from looking like Chinese lanterns to changing colors like the aurora borealis, with the help of LED solutions support provided by Future Lighting Solutions.

Recently, Taiwan’s No.1 LED chipmaker Epistar Corp. entered into alliance to tap LED lighting market with Delta Electronics Inc. Both companies’ executives have confirmed reports related to their cooperation on the lighting business. Delta has pledged to buy its partner’s chips.