AIXTRON, the Germany-based semiconductor equipment provider, announced its financial report for the first quarter of 2019 with an expected performance. The revenue of 1Q19 increased by 10% YoY to EUR 68.7 million (US$ 77 million). Although the gross margin decreased slightly to 39% YoY due to a change in the product mix, the gross profit of EUR 26.7 million (US$29.92 million) in the first quarter of 2019 was on a par with the previous year. According to AIXTRON, the first quarter of 2019 was mainly influenced by the expected reluctance of customers to inve...

Samsung and LG have both released their financial results for the first quarter of 2019 with profit loss in their display business resulting from the sluggish market. Samsung registered a revenue of KRW 6.12 trillion (US$ 5.24 billion) for its Display Panel Business in 1Q19 with an operating loss of KRW 0.56 trillion (US$ 479 million). The company said that the operating loss came from weaker profitability in both mobile and large displays. Mobile displays suffered slower demand and intensifying competition with LTPS LCDs. Large displays also took a hit from a ...

Advanced LED technologies are bringing increasing smart applications for automobile makers, especially for the rising market of new energy car. Tesla has recently applied a patent for its newly designed sunroof which integrated LED lighting and electrical tinting. The patent, titled “Advanced Sunroof Lighting System,” describes a sunroof consisting of multiple transparent layers including an electronic tint layer and a transparent lighting layer. By controlling the tint layer and lighting layer electronically, Tesla aims to monitor the light source inside the ca...

Seoul Semiconductor announced consolidated first quarter revenues of KRW 282 billion (US$ 242.52 million), down by 0.4% YoY compared to 1Q18 but within the range of company’s guided KRW 280 billion to KRW 300 billion. The company reported KRW 17 billion (US$ 14.62 million) of operating profit, recording an on year decline of 0.8%. According to Seoul Semiconductor, the modest decline of profits was a result from lower utilization. Due to equipment relocation among factories, the utilization rate of the company in 1Q19 dropped to 60% from 74% from the same p...

Fueled by the rising autonomous driving technology applications, LiDAR sensor manufacturers have reported business growth and expansion. The LUMIBIRD Group announced a robust revenue growth for 1Q19 while Cepton opened a new office in the UK to accelerate EMEIA business. Paris-based laser specialist Lumibird posted a revenue of EUR 24.2 million (US$ 27.07 million) for the first quarter of 2019 with an on-year increase of 35.2%. The three strategic business lines of the company, LiDAR, Defense and Medical, are delivering strong growth in value. LiDA...

Sanan Optoelectronics announced a CNY 120 billion (US$ 1.78 billion) investment agreement with Hubei Province on April 25, 2019 for Micro LED and Mini LED wafer and chip development and production. According to the agreement, Sanan will increase investment of III-V compound semiconductors for Micro LED and Mini LED wafer and chip production. (Image: Samsung) In September 2018, Sanan was said that it will build the first production line for Micro LED wafers and chips in 2019. The Chinese company has also worked closely with Samsung in Micr...

Signify reported a profit growth in the first quarter of 2019 which ended by March 31. Adjusted EBITA came to EUR 115 million (US$128.34 million), increased by 8.8%YoY. Net income of 1Q19 doubled from EUR 20 million (US$22.33 million) last year to EUR 44 million (US$49.1 million) as a result of better operational profitability and lower restructuring costs. Sales amount of Signify for the first quarter was EUR 1,478 million (US$ 1.65 million), with an on-year increase of 1.1% after currency adjustment. LED-based sales were up by 3.6% in comparison to...

Superinjection is a physical effect that underlies modern LEDs and lasers and was believed to occur only in semiconductor heterostructures in the past. Recently, researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) have found that the effect can also occur in homostructures, which opens up new prospects for the development of light sources. In the 1960’s, Zhores Alferov and Herbert Kroemer proposed to use heterostructures, which consist of two or more complementary semiconductors to generate wider bandgaps, enabling the concentration of electrons ...

An international research team demonstrated the possibility of tuning the color of a GaN LED by changing the time sequence at which the operation current is provided to the device. Scientists from Lehigh University, West Chester University, Osaka University and the University of Amsterdam have collaborated to develop a new technique of color tuning for GaN LED by controlling current injection to monitor the intensity ratios of emission atomic. The research, titled “Color-Tunablility in GaN LEDs Based on Atomic Emission Manipulation under Current In...

Signify, as a global leading lighting company, continues its development in innovative lighting technologies and sees light as a smart language to convey information. LiFi system which uses visible light to transmit data in over the air is a major focus of Signify to make light a new communication tool. Heading to the era of IoT, the number of internet connected devices increases drastically. Ed Huibers, general manager of Signify‘s visible light wireless communication system business unit, pointed out that there would be more than 50 billion devices relying on wireless in...

Velodyne Lidar announced an agreement with Nikon Cooperation, under which Sendai Nikon Corporation, a Nikon subsidiary, will manufacture LiDAR sensors for Velodyne with plans to start mass production in the second half of 2019. Through the partnership with Nikon to boost LiDAR sensor production, Velodyne aims to expand its business in North America, Europe and Asia, indicated Marta Hall, President and CBDO, Velodyne Lidar. The company has set a goal to produce LiDAR in millions of units to meet the rising demands in the automotive industry and other a...

With a wide range of applications, UV LED is considered a new rising opportunity for the LED industry. LEDinside noted in the latest report, titled “2019 Deep UV LED Application Market- Sterilization, Purification, and Water Treatment Markets,” that UV LED market continues to increase with the curing market steadily grow and rising applications in sterilization for surface, air, static and flowing water. With these driving momentums, LEDinside forecasts that the UV LED market value will reach US$ 991 million in 2023. Based on the wavel...

A research team at the University of Innsbruck, Austria cooperated with Osram Opto Semiconductors to develop a new red phosphor with excellent luminescence properties which can make LED lighting more energy-efficient. The research article, titled “Sr[Li2Al2O2N2]:Eu2+—A high performance red phosphor to brighten the future” was published in Nature Communications on April 23, 2019. The scientists created the new red phosphor whose light is well perceived by the eye as the human eye is more sensitive to green and less sensitive to blue and red. With th...

Signify presented its cutting-edge technologies in lighting and optical communication in “Signify innovation Day” in Taipei, Taiwan. The lighting company showcased its latest developments in connected lighting, Interact IoT platform, horticulture lighting and LiFi at the event, demonstrating the current trends in the global lighting industry. The world’s largest lighting company changed its name from Philips Lighting to Signify in May 2018, marking a transforming milestone for the Dutch company. John Wang, Senior Vice President of Signify and Pres...

Pioneer and Canon announced that the two companies have agreed to co-develop a 3D LiDAR sensor with the goal of mass production by Pioneer in 2020. 3D-LiDAR sensors use laser light to accurately measure the distance of objects as well as ascertain three-dimensional information relating to distance and the surrounding environment in real time, and are regarded as an indispensable key device for the realization of level-three and above autonomous vehicles. Pioneer has been working on the development of low cost Micro Electric Memory Systems (MEMS) as well as object rec...

Applied Materials has resumed its delivery and services to Sanan Optoelectronics after a business halt since Sanan named in the red-flag list of “unverified” entities by the U.S. government, reported China Securities Journal, a media under Xinhua News Agency, on April 22. Sanan Optoelectronics was one of the 37 Chinese companies and schools added by the U.S. Commerce Department in a red-flag list of unverified entities on April 10. The U.S. government suggested that U.S. companies should treat companies on the list with caution and trading with tho...

The impacts of artificial light on wildlife have been a study focus for biodiversity researchers. On Earth Day, let’s look into how different street lights affect bats activities. A team at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) has conducted a study to find out how UV emitting and non-UV emitting street lamps influence the activity of bats in the Berlin metropolitan area and whether tree cover might mitigate any effect of light pollution. The study is published in the scientific journal “Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.&rdq...

Researchers at The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have designed an ultrathin display that can project dynamic, multi-colored, 3D holographic images. The result of the study was published in Nature Communications. The system's critical component is a thin film of titanium filled with tiny holes that precisely correspond with each pixel in a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel. This film acts as a 'photon sieve' - each pinhole diffracts light emerging from them widely, resulting in a high-definition 3D image observable from a wide...

Mini LED, with better performance in brightness, contrast and saturation for display applications, is expected to grow radically in 2019 and 2020. To meet the booming demands of Mini LED, Taiwan-based companies are preparing to expand production of related Mini LED products. The adoption of Mini LED might not be popular in consumer products, yet the industry chain has been equipped to speed up Mini LED shipment for potential applications as Apple was said to release Mini LED backlight equipped iMac by 2H19 and iPad by 4Q20. Also, Huawei and Xiaomi were m...

Micro LED start up VerLASE announce that it is developing unique technologies for massively parallel assembly of Micro LED dies or films to address the major challenge of Micro LED display mass production. VerLASE, a spin-off of Versatilis, aims to develop novel technology of color conversion layers for Micro LED display. The company focused on practical methods with semiconductor and MEMs industry methods and existing tools in novel ways to enable deterministic, massively parallel transfers of Micro die, yet with provisions that allow selective repair. A...

Despite that the global automotive sales have slowed down in the past year due to the trade dispute and overall market decline, the demands for luxury automobiles in China and the increasing new energy (NEV) car market still bring up the penetration rate of LED in the automotive market. LEDinside sees that the market share of LED headlight and its market value will expand gradually as the price of high-power LED falls. LEDs are also adopted by other exterior lights including direction indicators and tail lights for delivering smart functions such signal projection and ...

Apple has held talks with LiDAR suppliers seeking for advanced LiDAR sensors for its self-driving cars, suggesting that Apple is still working on its automotive vehicle project, known as “Project Titan,” reported Reuters. According to Reuters, Apple has talked to at least four LiDAR suppliers, aiming to find LiDAR sensors with a “revolutionary design” that are “smaller, cheaper and easily mass produced” in comparison to the current technology. However, the reports said Apple has not yet found one that meets its demands. (I...

Before the commercialization of Micro LED displays, Mini LED and flexible OLED displays have been the focuses of the industry. Korean firms like Samsung and LG are strong players in the field but China’s BOE is rising and overtaking LG in the small and medium-sized flexible OLED business, reported Business Korea. (Image: LG) The report of Business Korea cited Zhang Yu, Vice President of BOE that the company aims to supply 50 million flexible display panels for smartphones in 2019 and will continue its investment plan in the flexible OLE...

Switching to energy efficient and longer lifetime LED bulbs from conventional lighting source can save energy cost. However, installing new LED bulbs in old lighting fixtures might be dangerous. A report of The Japan Times noted that the Consumer Affairs Agency in Japan has issued a public warning for LED bulbs changing. LED lighting penetration rate in Japan has reached 77 percent in 2017 with the public awareness of power shortage after Fukushima disaster in 2011 and halogen bulbs ban in 2012. But the popularity of LED lighting also caused some hazards. Th...

The Lighting Research Center (LRC) announced that it is developing a new course curriculum on lighting for plant growth and health to meet the increasing demands following the rising trend of indoor and controlled farming. Research from the Illumination for Plant Health (IPH) Alliance at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has shown that “Precision Light Dosing” can be used to combat the many pests and pathogens that reduce crop yields, and to increase plant health. At the same time, due to factors such as interest in local and sustainable food, along with m...

For strengthening its leading position in connected smart lighting, Signify announced the agreement to acquire WiZ Connected, a lighting software solutions developer focusing on WiFi-based lighting control. WiZ Connected is a French-Asian company based in Hong Kong. Acquisition of the company enables Signify to extend its leadership by stepping into the Wi-Fi-based smart lighting market. The price of the acquisition was not disclosed by both parties. Signify expects to close the transaction in 2Q19. After the acquisition, WiZ Connected and its 53 staff member...

General Electric (GE), Current Lighting Solution and Consumer Lighting have accused Cree of using a technology on Cree’s LED product which infringes the patent of GE’s TriGain LED technology. The three companies filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Cree on April 11, 2019. (Image: Pixabay) lightED, an online magazine, posted the lawsuit document filed by GE. In the document, GE indicated that its TriGain LED technology, which is protected by U.S. Patent No 7,497,973 and No. 9,680,067, addresses solutions to improve LED col...

A research team at Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) developed a new kind of LED which generates light from the radiative decay of exciton complexes in extremely thin layers. Researchers produced what they called as “multi-particle exciton complexes” by applying electrical pulses to extremely thin layers of material made from tungsten and selenium or sulphur. These exciton clusters are bonding states made up of electrons and “holes” in the material and can be converted into light. The result is an innovative form of light-emitting diode in whic...

Foxconn revealed its plan to add Micro LED or OLED production lines in the Wisconsin factory after the operation begins by the end of 2020. Foxconn announced its plan to produce LCD panels the US in 2017 and held a new factory groundbreaking ceremony last year in Wisconsin. After almost a year, the company said in March 2019 that the factory in Wisconsin will start operation by the fourth quarter of 2020. Today, Foxconn unveiled that Micro LED or OLED manufacturing lines might be added to the production of Wisconsin factory. Since the groundbreaking in...

After China’s biggest LED chip manufacturer Sanan Optoelectronics was named in the red-flag list of “unverified” entities last week, American top chip equipment supplier Applied Materials reportedly stopped business with Sanan “immediately.” The response of Sanan Optoelectronics noted that Applied Materials as an equipment provider has limited impact on Sanan’s business operation since the US company is not an exclusive equipment provider for the chip maker. Sanan said that it can also purchase equipment from other Chinese supplier ...