Mini LED has entered the market with manufacturers continuously reporting the launch of new products with Mini LED applications in the past few months. Meanwhile, the industry does not intend to stop the progress of Micro LED development. Chinese LED chip maker Sanan Optoelectronics will build its Micro LED epi-wafer and chip production, according to industry sources. 

With the market of Mini LED display thriving in the second half of 2018, LED driver IC company Macroblock has been preparing its technologies and capacities for Mini LED displays.

The development of the LED display industry has been blooming in 2018 with the progresses of Mini LED, Micro LED, Fine pitch LED and OLED showing up one after another. According to the latest report from LEDinside, it is estimated that the market value of Micro LED and Mini LED will reach US$ 1.38 billion by 2022.

Micro LED has been considered as the next generation display technology and many leading brands have continued to report their progress of Micro LED development. Taiwanese LED makers and panel producers have also introduced their latest development of Micro LED display technologies at Touch Taiwan 2018. According to sources from the supply chain, Apple has visited AUO and Epistar to learn their progress of Micro LED technology and discuss the possible cooperation regarding Micro LED display development. 

Samsung India has partnered with PVR Cinemas, an Indian film entertainment company, to launch Onyx Cinema LED screens in India. Samsung plans to install about five 4K Onyx Cinema LED displays in different cities in India by the end of the year.

Lextar has announced that the company will launch the latest Micro LED chips with the size smaller than 20 µm and two different Micro LED chip solutions for display applications at Touch Taiwan 2018.

Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) has reported its progress of Mini LED and its achievement of cadmium-free quantum dots LED (QLED) material development. The company has targeted the automobile market with related applications adopting these technologies. 

By deploying LED lighting, agricultural activities can be carried out in places with difficult environment conditions for providing food locally and diminishing the food miles. Vertical farms have been established worldwide with the aim of producing food with more efficiency and less resource waste. 

Taiwanese LED packaging company Everlight has addressed its continuous portfolio amendment and its further operation direction in response to the company’s share price slide.

Taiwanese panel manufacturer Innolux is to showcase its latest products including gaming panels, QLED notebook panels and smart watches with flexible OLED displays at Touch Taiwan 2018. 

Taiwanese LED manufacturer Harvatek Corporation is expecting a better performance for 3Q18 with its new production capacities in China and the steady orders of displays and consumer electronics products. 

British smart city applications provider Telensa has announced that the company was selected by Sunshine Coast Council to install its intelligent street lighting system in the Maroochydore City Center for a 24 month pilot smart city project. Meanwhile, in Chicago, 76,000 LED smart streetlights were installed as part of the city’s four-year modernization program. 

A floating farm built by a Dutch company, Beladon, is expected to open in the Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, by the end of the year, reported BBC. The world first offshore farm has been built in the middle of Merwehaven, aiming to serve as a sustainable food source for the city. 

Rooted in the U.S. since 1901, Sylvania was acquired by SH Felio Acoustics in 2017 and has become a Chinese company, Felio SYLVANIA, with the focus on the global market. Targeting the growing LED lighting market of South East Asia, Sylvania has been proactively expanding its business in the area and has set up branches in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Taiwan. 

Quantum Materials Corp, a U.S. based quantum dot manufacturer, has announced its achievement of exceeding 7,000 hour continuous on-time durability test for the company's cadmium-free quantum dots in a remote LED.

In April, the U.S. government has proposed a list of 1300 Chinese exports and announced to impose 25 percent tariffs on these products, following the Section 301 investigation. Later in July, the Trump administration released the second tranche of additional tariffs on US$ 200 billion worth of Chinese goods. As LED products are included in both tariff lists, LEDinside has continued to follow and analyze the impacts of the tariffs on LED lighting business. 

Taiwanese semiconductor component provider TOPCO has announced that it will join the Touch Taiwan display show to introduce materials and components that are crucial for Micro LED/Mini LED technology development. 

Telecom operator O2 has announced its partnership with pureLiFi for a trail network using LED lights to provide high-speed wireless connection for data transmission. 

German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen has been recalling 700,000 of its Tiguan and Touran cars around the world due to the possible short-circuiting risk of their LED lights.

Industry sources have leaked in February that LG planned to release its first Micro LED TV in September. LG Electronics will reportedly launch its Micro LED TV at the IFA electronics trade show in Germany, according to a report from The Investor. 

The technology developments on wearable devices have created numerous applications with the purpose of improving the convenience and well-being of life. In the first half of 2018, several researches and projects combining LED technologies and wearables were revealed. Meanwhile, whether the new Apple Watch will adopt Micro LED has been a focus to all.

Taiwan-based LED auto lamp modules and components manufacturer EOI (Excellence Optoelectronics Inc) has reported high profit margin for 1H18 which was pushed by the strong demands of LED automotive lamps in the North American market.

LG Innotek has reportedly launched visible LEDs for disinfection lighting which uses indoor light to deliver sterilization effect, according the report of Korea Herald. 

The UK’s Royal Navy has ordered 100,783 LED tubes worth £1 million (US$ 1.27 million) for its flagship warships from Voltacon, a UK based company.

The market value of LED lighting has continuously expanded in the past years with the progress of the technology. According to the latest report of LEDinside, LED lighting market scale will reach US$ 33.3 billion in 2019 and LED lighting market penetration will come to 63 percent in 2022 from 22 percent in 2017.

By September 1, importing or producing new halogen bulbs will be banned in the EU market, as the final phase of EU energy regulations comes into effect. The retailers are allowed to sell their in-stock halogen bulbs but cannot reorder. Consumers have no obligation to replace the old halogen bulbs before they expire. 

Lextar has been reorganizing its production capacities and adjusting its products portfolio, aiming to efficiently integrate its resources and to boost profit margin for the future. 

Lextar has released a series of Mini LED products including Mini LED RGB display modules and Mini LED backlight for notebooks and monitors. The products will be demonstrated at Touch Taiwan 2018 by the end of August in Taipei, Taiwan. 

Taiwan-based flexible printed circuit board producer Uniflex announced its development of Mini LED substrates which has entered the supply chain of LED chips, LED backlight modules and panels. The company expects mass production and shipment of the products in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Chinese company BOE Technology will reportedly begin trial production of Micro OLED display in the beginning of 2019 which will be applied for VR and AR, according to Korea’s ET News.