AMS’ new offer for Osram was approved and published last week with an offer price of EUR 41 per share (US$ 45) and a minimum acceptance threshold of 55%. Osram announced today (November 12) that it has concluded a comprehensive business combination agreement with AMS and recommends its shareholders accept the current takeover offer. With the new offer, AMS lowered the minimum acceptance rate to 55%, providing “more certainty that the offer succeeds,” according to AMS. Currently AMS is the largest shareholder of Osram with its 19.99% of share...

Last week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published 59 patents of Apple including one patent named “Lighting Systems of Vehicle Seats,” which is believed to be part of Apple’s autonomous vehicle project “Project Titan,” according to the report of Patently Apple. Apple’s new patent of vehicle lighting systems noted that the lighting system can be integrated into a seat, door panel, dashboard, or other interior portions of a vehicle. These interior parts of car would be illuminated with the light systems for providing icons, text, a...

STMicroelectronics (ST) announced its collaborative efforts with Audi to conceive, design, industrialize, manufacture, and deliver the next generation of innovative automotive exterior OLED lighting. The first demonstration of this effort was the showing of next-generation digital OLED technology presented by Audi at the 2019 International Symposium on Automotive Lighting (ISAL). The parties target to release this new technology in future Audi car models. (Image: ST/Audi) The current cooperation expands the relationship and builds on Audi’s creativ...

Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Taiwan's largest and leading high-tech applied research institutions, won two CES 2020 Innovation Awards, including its PECOLA (Personal Companion for Older People Living Alone) in the Smart Home category and iStimUweaR in Wearable Technologies. ITRI President Edwin Liu pointed out that ITRI’s PECOLA robot is able to identify and analyze living conditions for seniors, and employs a video-based fall detection technology, which will send notification for assistance when a person take...

CEO of Signify spoke on this year’s Climate Week in New York calling for action against climate change and underlined that switching conventional lighting into connected LEDs is part of the solutions. Making the change towards energy-efficient lighting can have major positive effects for cities. For example, in 2017 Poland implemented its first large-scale lighting management system and made the switch to connected LED lighting. 2,000 LED luminaires were installed in two Polish cities, Kalisz and Ostrów Wielkopolski, with Interact City lighting asset...

The European Union have set up higher standards of food safety and food quality. In order to meet the requirements especially in the dairy industry, researchers in the EU are working on developing a new optoplasmonic sensor which enable fast, on-site milk quality analysis. In the EU-funded project MOLOKO (Multiplex phOtonic sensor for pLasmonic-based Online detection of contaminants in milK), Fraunhofer researchers have teamed up with partners from seven countries to develop a fast and inexpensive test for identifying quality factors in milk. In the five-minute te...

Seoul Semiconductor announced that its SunLike Series natural spectrum LEDs have been adopted for lighting brand “REMEZ” by RemiLicht GmbH for the lighting market in Russia. The LED light bulbs feature a human-centric lighting design enabled by the SunLike Series LEDs. The SunLike Series LEDs adopted by RemiLicht GmbH for LED light bulb used for residential lighting and desk lamp achieved color temperatures of warm white (3000K) and cold white (5700K), optimized to natural light spectra by reaching lower blue light peak similar to su...

Cree reported its strategic partnership with German’s ZF Friedrichshafen for highly efficient electric drivelines development. With this strategic partnership, ZF and Cree are intensifying their existing cooperation. “We're delighted that we're building on our cooperation with Cree using their Wolfspeed silicon carbide technology and are absolutely convinced that combining our strengths will further improve efficiency and competitive edge for our components and systems,” said Jörg Grotendorst, Head of the ZF E-Mobility Division. (Ima...

Environmental Groups in the U.S. filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for challenging the recent rollback of energy-saving light bulb standard. In September 2019, the Trump’s administration withdrew the Obama’s decision in 2017 which added additional light bulb types to the lighting efficiency standard. By doing so, it is analyzed by American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) that the U.S. consumer will spend US$ 15 billion on electricity annually and the environmental impact will be intensified with more carbo...

UV LED technology has come closer to our daily life for diminishing bacteria and enhancing hygiene. One way to apply the technology could be integrating UV LEDs with public door handles. Two graduate students of the Chinese University in Hong Kong designed the self-sanitizing door handle and was selected as the top 20 in the James Dyson Award in 2019. Sum Ming Wong and Kin Pong Li, the inventors of the self-sanitizing door handle, were inspired by the SARS outbreak in 2003 when the infection spread out via contact. The door handle was created to prevent conta...

LED lighting combining hydroponics system enables people to cultivate food anytime anywhere. In France, a startup company has turned an underground garage in Paris into a vertical farm to grow mushroom and greens, providing fresh food for local people. The government built several parking spaces under the city of Paris during 1960’s to 1970’s and these spaces become abandoned as the driving population declined. La Caverne, a French startup, thus decided to grow vegetables via urban agriculture project in a garage under the city. (Image: La Caverne) Fou...

Earlier this year, the largest LED chip provider in China, Sanan Optoelectronics announced that its Micro LED and Mini LED chip production lines are under construction. And now the company reportedly begins the production of 6-inch Micro LED wafer in the four quarter of 2019, according to Digitimes. Sanan was said to have developed Micro LED chips of 10*20 µm and is aiming to further shrink the chip size in 2020, providing testing data and samples to its clients. Production of 6-inch wafer is a critical move for Micro LED cost reduction as currently ...

Getac, a rugged tablet and PC manufacturer announced its partnership with pureLiFi for integrating LiFi technology into ruggedized wireless devices. For military, automotive, and manufacturing customers, security, safety and reliability are paramount to their operations. As LiFi enables data transmission via light rather than radio waves, the technology features secure and reliable high speed internet connection, supporting Getac the latest technologies to provide customers with solutions to overcome challenges and safeguard and improve productivity. "Getac's pa...

U.S.-based Lighting control supplier Leviton announced that it has acquired Viscor, the largest independent lighting manufacturer in Canada; while Architectural Lighting Works (ALW) reported the acquisition of v2 Lighting Group. (Image: Leviton) Leviton’ acquisition of Viscor reiterates its commitment to strategically expand the lighting and controls product offering. "By adding Viscor to the Leviton family, we will be able to provide a much deeper portfolio of lighting options for our customers. Equally important, Viscor's product portfolio will b...

A Chinese research team recently develop a stretchable light-emitting devices which delivers information and can be attached to human skin and other surfaces. The device is like a temporary tattoo and can be operated at low voltage so it does not cause harm to users. Published in ACS Materials Letter in October 2019, the results from researchers at Nanjing University in China demonstrated stretchable light-emitting devices called alternating-current electroluminescent (ACEL) displays. The device has a sandwiched structure with an electroluminescent layer made of light-em...

Sweden-based horticulture lighting solution provider Heliospectra announced new orders for its new LED lighting solutions from Bridge Farm Group in the UK and Nectar Farms in Australia. The two farms will install Heliospectra’s new MITRA LED lighting solutions in greenhouses for commercial food production. Bridge Farm Group is the largest commercial producers and suppliers of plants in the UK. The company has been producing greenhouse grown flowers, potted outdoor plants, microgreens, herbs and ornamentals for more than 30 years. Bridge Farm Group was...

Seoul Semiconductor announced its financial results of the third quarter of 2019 with revenues of KRW 283.4 billion (US$ 244.3 million), an operating profit of KRW 12 billion (US$ 10.34 million), and EBITDA of KRW 32.6 billion (US$ 28.10 million). The company said that it has achieved its guided range of KRW 280 billion to KRW 300 billion of revenues for the quarter. Despite the weak general lighting market, Seoul Semiconductor reported growing sales of WICOP products as the demand of larger and slimmer screen in the TV market increase. The sales...

At the Micro LED product launch, Konka invited Shuiji Nakamura, the Nobel winner in 2014, to share his ideas about Micro LED displays and the technology progress of his laboratory. According to Nakamura, Micro LED outpaces OLED in all the features including brightness, contrast, durability and more, however, the only challenge for Micro LED is production cost. And in order to reduce cost, the miniaturize process of LED might lead to efficiency degrease. Currently the research team has developed a 10μm Micro LED chip which is able to achieve 42% EO...

Konka Group from China hold a product launch event on October 31 and introduced its latest Micro LED display products including a 118-inch 4K TV, a 117-inch 6K TV and a 236-inch 8K TV under the brand name “APHAEA.” Konka called its Micro LED TV product “Smart Wall,” aiming to challenge Samsung’s “The Wall.” The Micro LED displays of Konka are also modular display that can be customized into different shapes and sizes. The Smart Wall TVs use more than 100 million Micro LED chips to reach a brigh...

Apple is currently constructing a new facility in Taiwan, next to Apple’s Taoyuan plant opened in 2015, reported Taiwan’s Wealth Magazine. According to the report, Apple is building the third plant in Taiwan which is scheduled to be finished in December 2019. Many believe that the new facility, like the old ones, are for Micro LED. (Apple's Micro LED research center in Taiwan, image: Seeking Alpha) Taiwan has been a key place for Apple in developing Micro LED technology where the iPhone maker strategically collaborated with local supply ch...

As the trade war between the U.S. and China goes on, some companies from other area enjoy the benefits from order transfer. Taiwan’s LED packager Unity-Opto, recently reported that it has receive orders from U.S. wholesalers and is seeing revenue growth for 4Q19. In order to avoid extra tariffs, companies across the world who target the U.S. market are seeking suppliers who have production lines outside China. With its production lines located in Taiwan, Unity-Opto thus benefits from the order transfer with sales in 1H19 rising 30%YoY. The company also too...

Cree announced the results of its fiscal 1Q20 ended September 29, 2019. For the fiscal quarter, Cree registered a revenue of US$242.8 million, which represents an on-year decrease of 11% and a 3% decrease compared to the previous quarter. GAAP net loss from continuing operations for the first quarter was $37.8 million compared to GAAP net loss from continuing operations of $0.8 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2019. On a non-GAAP basis, net loss from continuing operations for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 was $3.6 million. The company has sold its light...

Lighting company Tridonic and NMB-Minebea-GmbH, which is part of the MinebeaMitsumi group who manufacture machinery components and electronics devices, have signed a contract to form a strategic partnership. The partnership aims to develop intelligent outdoor lighting solutions for Smart Cities. Based on Tridonic’s lighting technology and Paradox Engineering’s connectivity platform and applications ecosystem, the partnership aims to provide integrated Smart City services. For this purpose, hardware and software from both partners will be aligned so that the...

Smart street lighting company Telensa is going to expand its PLANet intelligent street lighting system to Wiltshire County, adding 7,000 more lights across the county. The established deployment already controls 35,000 lights, and paid for itself in just six years through reduced energy and maintenance costs. These controls are also being upgraded as part of a broader LED replacement program for which Ringway is the contractor and Atkins is the consultant. The combination of Telensa smart controls and advanced LED lights from Urbis Schréder has enabled the Co...

LED technology has progressed to create lights that are similar to natural lights for progresses, which might help to enhance wellbeing for not only human beings but also other creatures. Several researches suggested that mood, sense of well-being, productivity and cognition might all benefit from lighting that tracks the solar day. Thus, LED and lighting companies across the world are releasing advanced products for health improvement. Cree Lighting announced the availability of its architectural-grade Cadiant™ Dynamic Lighting Experience. The company introduced Cad...

Signify announced the partnership with aircraft manufacturer Latécoère for the industrial scale-up of its LiFi technology. The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on its Trulifi technology. The partnership also include South Korea’s aerospace and defense specialist, Huneed Technologies, for data communication electronics and software. “The Paris Air Show 2019 gave Latécoère the opportunity to demonstrate the power of the LiFi speed. Our technology, which showcases our Group’s worldwide lead in in...

With increasing urban population across the world that drives food demands in cities, innovative growing techniques are critical for sustaining food supply. Vertical farming that cultivate crops with LED lighting and controlled environment has served as a solution to provide fresh food for areas with high population density with less water and space consumed. Agritech companies in the U.S. are expanding their vertical farming business across the country. Plenty, a vertical farming company based in California, USA, announced that it will build a new farm in Los Angeles later...

German equipment solution provider AIXTRON announced the financial results for the third quarter and the first nine month of 2019. The company reported an on-year revenue increase of 2% to EUR 184.6 billion for 3Q19 and an operating result of EUR 24.5 million (US$ 27.16 million) that grew by 18%YoY. AIXTRON said that the order situation slightly recovered compared to the previous quarter. Sales were lower than in the previous quarters partly due to longer than expected processes to grant export licenses. Nevertheless, sales for the first nine months of 2019 in...

Signify published the financial results of 3Q19 last week with a 5% decrease in comparable sales growth while its LED-based business improved on-year by 2.6%. The company said that the “challenging macro environment with lower market activity in Europe, U.S., Greater China as well as a major impact of tightening liquidity in India,” was a major reason for the flat sales growth. The Dutch lighting company reported a revenue of EUR 1.53 billion (US$ 1.7 billion) in 3Q19, down by 3.3%YoY. Accumulated revenue for 2019 until the end of September came to E...

Automotive applications mark a niche market for global LED makers. While the developing electronic vehicle and autonomous driving technology with higher requirement for power saving open more opportunities for LED producers, LED technology progress also supports more application options for automobile manufacturers. Head up display (HUD) which enables drivers to obtain information while looking the frond is an application that can be enhanced through advance LED technologies. A HUD system usually include a picture generating unit (PGU) consisting of an LED arra...