Japan-based electronics company Panasonic has announced that the company will quit production of mercury lamps by the end of June 2020 and promote LED lighting replacement in response to the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

Professional UV and IR LED manufacturer High Power Lighting (HPL) has partnered with Epileds to establish a joint venture, Bioraytron. Bioraytron is a DUV LED manufacture company specializing in vertically integration of DUV LED from the production of epitaxy and wafer to packaging. Bioraytron will participate in BioOpto Japan 2018. The 10th BioOpto Japan will be held from October 17th to 19th 2018 in Chiba, Japan.

Alabama Power has established an innovation project to grow food in a shipping container retrofitted with LED lighting provided by Freight Farm. The aim of the project is to find out if the cost of using electricity to power indoor agriculture is more efficient and feasible in comparison with traditional agriculture.

Nichia reported a new update of its patent lawsuit with Everlight, the Taiwanese package company. 

A Spanish research team has developed a new light emitting material which generates light source that is similar to the sun and reduces the harmfulness of blue light. The result was published in Materials Horizons in September 2018. 

A European Apple patent application related to the technology of Micro LED display was published, reported Patently Apple.

Taiwanese LED companies have registered their revenue for September and most of them posted an on-year decrease. 

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has reported its testing of a new system equipped with wind LIDAR (light detection and ranging) and water vapor DIAL (differential absorption LIDAR). The testing is aimed at developing measuring methods to forecast torrential rain.

  Scientists have continuously worked on improving the performance of LED. LED based on Perovskite (PLED) could be a new approach. Scientists have found out that the performance of the material surpasses OLED and that it could be processed with low cost solutions. Two research teams have published their studies of perovskite LED on Nature in October, notifying the potential of its further development.

Chinese panel maker BOE has attempted to supply its OLED panels to Samsung Electronics, according to Korean media, The Investor. The report said BOE has been working on samples for the panels used in Samsung’s Galaxy Watch.

The U.S.-based LED technology developer, Neo Lights Holdings, has aimed to set up its manufacturing facilities in India and announced that the company is in discussion with several Indian producers to determine the optimized approaches of collaboration. 

With the orders of backlight products and fine pitch displays, Epistar has reached the highest monthly revenue of NT$ 1.93 billion (US$ 62.38 million) of the year in September with an increase of 1.36% MoM and a decrease of 22% YoY. 

The development of LED applications in horticulture has continued to transform our understanding of farming. Delphy, a Dutch company, has recently conducted research on growing raspberries and blackberries with LED lighting, aiming to harvest them during winter.

Lextar has reported revenue drop in September due to its continuous product adjustments. The company registered a revenue of NT$ 98 million (US$ 3.17 million) for September with a decrease of 6.7% YoY. 

Osarm has cooperated with German company builder mantro to develop VISN, a product for analyzing and optimizing spaces in the office. The two companies are presenting the product at the Expo Real trade fair from October 8th – 10th in Munich, Germany. 

Velodyne LiDAR, the world leader in 3D real-time perception systems for autonomous vehicles, has been working on promoting the safety of autonomous cars. The company will hold the World Safety Summit on Autonomous Technology to address safety issues and public concern regarding autonomous vehicles in Santa Clara, California, on October 18th. In addition, it has partnered with non-profit organization Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to create an educational website providing information about how autonomous vehicles can help to prevent roadway collisions.

Automotive LED application has provided advanced light sources for drivers and now it offers a new function: creating eyes for self-driving cars like those of Herbie’s. 

Dr. Hiroshi Amano, a 2014 Nobel laureate in physics, delivered a lecture at Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan on October 3rd, sharing his research progress on GaN blue LED with Prof. Isamu Akasaki and how he has transferred his research focus from blue LED to UV LED and GaN power. He also highlighted the potential applications of GaN technology in the era of IoT and 5G. 

LG Display has confirmed its plan to cut jobs through voluntary retirement as the company intends to shift its product portfolio from LCD display to OLED display which requires less production workforce, reported Reuters.

Taiwan-based LED packagers Edison Opto and Bright LED Electronics (BRTLED) have reported their strategies in response to the price competition of LED products and the impacts of trade war. 

Taiwanese LED wafer and chip maker Epileds has reportedly continued its progress in developing Micro LED/Mini LED products. However, impacted by the price pressure and severe competition, the company’s performance for 3Q18 turned out flat.

People have continued to discover more applications and functions of LED lights. Researchers at Purdue University have found that blue and red LED can be used to prevent birds from colliding with human structures and vehicles.

Nick Klase, co-founder and CEO of Fluence Bioengineering, has appointed Dave Cohen as the new CEO of the company and he will move into a new role in the company’s R&D team.

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has introduced its new development of an indoor lighting technology which mimics blue skies and changes colors with daytime to create a natural feel for indoor spaces.

With the low profit of LED general lighting and the escalating uncertainty of the LED industry due to the trade war, worldwide LED manufacturers are facing unprecedented challenges and have taken different actions to cope with the situation. Some decided to divert their LED lighting business while others are changing their business focal point. However, LEDinside believes that there are plenty of opportunities for LED lighting technology despite the difficult circumstance of the current LED lighting industry.

Many panel producers have reported profit drop in the early 2018 due to oversupply. But in the third quarter of 2018, the enhanced stocking-up demand in the peak season has reversed the over-supply trend, analyzed WitsView, a division of TrendForce.

Dr. Hiroshi Amano, Nobel Laureate in Physics 2014, will deliver a lecture on October 3rd at Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. The topic of the lecture is “The History of the Development of Blue & UV-LEDs and Their Future Prospects.”

A Cincinnati-based indoor farming company, 80 Acres Farms, has announced its plan to build a vertical farm in Hamilton, Ohio, which will be the first fully automated indoor farm in the U.S.

Taiwanese LED manufacturers have been affected by the tepid LED market resulting from LED price declines due to oversupply. The escalating trade war has also impacted the demand of the end market. 

Current by GE and Vodafone have worked together to deploy a new multi-sensor network in part of Vodafone’s London headquarters. Combining sensors of Current by GE, IoT technology and cloud of Vodafone, the new network has adopted innovative visualization software to transform raw data into actionable information.