Recently, Merck KGaA and DELO Industrial Adhesives announced that they had formed a strategic partnership in the field of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology. Within the scope of their agreement, the companies plan to develop future system solutions for OLED applications. The companies will join forces to market OLED adhesive products from DELO through Merck’s extensive marketing and sales channels.

Recently, Luxell Technologies Inc. (TSX:LUX) is pleased to report it has now been issued an additional U.S. patent (No. 7372436). The patent specifically relates to reducing ambient light reflections off of the display face and provides OLED displays with greater sunlight legibility. The resulting end-display will benefit from an increased readability and from reduced production costs as the use of polarizing filters is no longer required.

Yesterday,Nu Horizons Electronics Corp., a leading global distributor of advanced technology semiconductor, displays, illumination, power and system solutions, announced expansion into India withOSRAM Opto Semiconductors, a specialist in semiconductor technology for lighting, sensor and visualization applications.

Recently, Sunovia Energy Technologies, Inc., a renewable energy and energy conservation company, announced that it had finalized an exclusive partnership with Kauffman Consulting, LLC for the design and development of proprietary, high-efficiency LED based solid-state lighting fixtures and solar lighting systems.

Recently, Taiwan`s top-two LED makers, Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. and Epistar Corp., decided to jointly set up a dedicated photovoltaic (CPV) solar power plant in southern Taiwan, the first of its kind in Asia.

Recently, Opto Tech, has landed a big order for LED displays for use on freeways in the U.S. With the new order and its ongoing construction project of a large-sized LED marquee in Suzhou China, which is worth NT$5-600 million, Opto Tech is very likely to see its single-month revenue break the NT$700 million mark, hitting a new high in the third quarter of 2008.

According to company sources, affected by seasonal impact, quite a few Taiwan`s LED (light-emitting diode) makers, including Unity Opto Technology Co., Ltd.,Harvatek Inc. andEpistar Corp. and Opto Tech Corporation, Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd., suffered declining sales revenue in June.

Yesterday, Marktech LED Lighting Products announced the grand opening of their online store, MarktechLEDlighting.com, and spoke to consumers about the importance of energy conservation. At their online store, consumers will find creative illumination ideas that are designed to leave a minimal footprint on the environment.

Recently, Intellectual Property Bank Corp (IPB) has announced its "Applicant Score Rankings" based on the company's proprietary benchmarks for technical competitiveness of manufacturers engaged in the LED lighting system business. According to IPB, a company that provides consulting related to intellectual property, Nichia Corp is the top manufacturer on a basis of competitive technology in the LED lighting system area.

Recently, Sony Corp and other Japanese companies said they will team up to jointly develop key technologies to make large-sized organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels for use in TVs.

Yesterday, Analog Technologies Corp., a leading provider of electronic design and manufacturing services, announced the launching of a wholly-owned subsidiary focused on high power LED integration for Solid State Lighting OEM’s. The newly formed operation, Lumagine, LLC will be responsible for design and manufacturing services of high power LED light engines and assemblies.

Recently, Taiwan's share of the growing notebook market is expected to continue slowly rising. But systems makers on the island nation face challenges such as the transition to LED backlights and the need to expand their overseas markets.In Taiwan at least 15 companies currently design and make notebooks for major brand name companies. Two of those former no-name manufacturers—Acer Inc. and Asustek Computer--have established significant notebook businesses under their own brands, thanks in part to their close ties to the many key component suppliers in Taiwan.

It’s reported that the Japanese government is backing Sony, Toshiba, Sharp and some other companies in joint research of new display technology called organic light-emitting diodes, or OLED.An agency set up for encouraging research, The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, or NEDO, said in a statement Thursday it has chosen the companies with the aim of developing a 40-inch OLED display sometime after 2015.

Recently, Everlight Electronics Co., a Taiwanese supplier of LEDs (light-emitting diodes), has won a big order for LED surgical lights and is scheduled to fill the order starting the second half of this year, according to company sources.

It’s reported that OLED faces a renewed attack from rival technology Field Emission Displays (FED), after Sony spin-off Field Emission Technologies (FET) confirmed it will purchase Pioneer's plasma factory next year.A FET spokesperson said, “We will purchase the factory, but at this point in time, we are still in discussions with Pioneer as to the method of purchase”. He said whether the company would pay cash or use other means was still unclear.

It’s reported that Juno Lighting Group has partnered with Dialight, an LED lighting specialist, to develop and launch a series of low-profile linear LED lighting systems for Juno's DanaLite brand.

Recently, Taiwan's share of the growing notebook market is expected to continue slowly rising. But systems makers on the island Taiwan face challenges such as the transition to LED backlights and the need to expand their overseas markets.

Everlight, Taiwan LED packaging company, is going to adjust its shipment proportion going to the handset segment from 40% in 2007 to 33% this year due to weaker demand, according to Everlight chairman Robert Yeh.

It’s reported that Stan Glasgow (president and COO of Sony Electronics) says that Sony is making progress on moving to larger OLED screen sizes. At the moment, Sony sells an 11-inch OLED TV for $2,500, which means it is hardly a mass market product. He says, the next step, will be a 27-inch version, followed by a 40-inch version. He says they are “awfully close” to selling a 27-inch OLED version commercially.

It’s retorted that Philips is offering around 1000 patents related to LED luminaires, and will charge licensing fees such as 5% of net selling price for color-changing luminaires. On June 30, Philips introduced a patent licensing program for LED-based luminaires used in the general illumination, architectural and theatrical markets. Philips has pulled together a list of about 1000 patents – including those originally filed by Color Kinetics - that it says address the basic control technologies required in a broad range of LED lighting applications.

In 2008, Low-cost notebook (netbooks) are expected to become popular. However, LED players have pointed out that material costs have increased while ASPs continue to fall leading to lower-than-expected gross margins. industry players warn, orders from netbook backlight applications may contribute to LED revenues but not necessarily to profits in the third quarter.

It’s reported that Hitachi Ltd. (TSE:6501) and Canon Inc. (TSE:7751) have agreed to jointly develop and manufacture small and midsize organic electroluminescence (EL) displays for digital cameras within two years. The two firms plan to set up in early July to handle the project, they will transfer a total of about 100 engineers to a new organization.

Solid-state lighting, or using LEDs instead of traditional filament incandescent or fluorescent tube designs, promises long bulb lives, energy savings, and monetary savings thanks to the lower power consumption. The light bulb, largely unchanged for decades, is finally on the verge of evolving.

September this year, The Neo-Neo Group will start producing epitaxy wafers, becoming the first Taiwanese LED-lighting maker to be an integrated manufacturer with front-, middle- and back-end productions.

Recently, in order to diversify its business coverage and expand business scale, Formosa Advanced Technologies Company (FATC) announced it will enter into LED chip backend production, with corresponding sales contribution set to double on year.

Recently,Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. announced it would buy a 3.4% stake in China Electrical Mfg. Co., Ltd. and a 40% stake in TOA Optronics Co., Ltd., a China Electrical affiliate, for NT$850 million (US$28 million at US$1:NT$30).The acquisition makes Chi Mei the largest institutional shareholder of China Electrical, Taiwan`s No.1 lighting manufacturer, entitling it to hold seats on TOA`s board. TOA is 100% owned by China Electrical and produces cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) as well as hot cathode fluorescent lamps (HCFLs).

Because of strong demand from OEM clients, Taiwan-based Star World Technology's monthly shipments of small-size AMOLED modules have increased sharply to 100,000-200,000 units recently compared to the beginning of the year, according to the company.Star World said despite the present opaqueness shrouding the panel market, its shipments have see little affect. Star World remains optimistic about the small- to medium-size panel market in the second half of the year, during which utilization rate will come close to full capacity.

According to Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) vice chairman Peter Chen, Chi Mei EL (CMEL) expects that its AMOLED TV-panel technologies, which are being developed with help from Kodak and DuPont, will see a breakthrough next year, and volume production may start in 2010 or 2011.

Recently, LED packaging company Bright LED Electronic has received LED tunnel lamp orders from China for lamps of 50W, 100W and 200W, according to sources, who estimate that the company will ship 8,000 unit starting from the third quarter, helping Bright LED achieve its annual LED street lamp shipment goal of 35,000 units.

According to the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN),Taiwan PC case maker Casing Macron Technology has entered into the LED ODM industry.Casing Macron Technology received LED street lamp ODM orders from China Aerospace Science and Technology (CASC) and Hutchison Whampoa (HWL) for the China Guangshen highway project, and the paper estimates the revenue contribution from the projects will add NT$2-3 billion (US$65-98 million) to Casing Macron Technology 's annual revenues.