Market research firm TrendForce reports annual tablet shipments worldwide posted a decline for 2016, dropping 6.6% to 157.4 million units. However, total shipments from branded tablet vendors surpassed expectations because of the robust year-end holiday sales.

First revealed by AppleInsider, Apple has been awarded a US patent on Tuesday, suggesting that the company is exploring display technology that embeds Micro LEDs and an IR diode to read users’ fingerprints without a dedicated Touch ID sensor. This new design feature may shed lights on its iPhone 8.

Apple is said to release a low-priced iPad and will partner with Chinese players to reduce production costs, boosting this new product’s competitive edge.

Due to recent pollution crackdown by Chinese authorities, the steel industry in China has halt production and undergone consolidation, leading to a dramatic price surge in steel products. As a result, prices of LED chip and packages have also increased, further resulting in a price hike in LED end products.

Osram’s spokeman told Reuters it foresees a rapid increase in demand for its infrared components in the light of the introduction of the state-of-the-art iris-scanning identification in mobile devices. Osram plans to recruit around 1,000 new talents at its factory in Regensburg, Germany.

Another bitter litigation between two noted LED manufacturers has come to an end. The Intellectual Property High Court of Japan (IPHC) announced on 18th of Jan, 2017 a dismissal of the lawsuit Everlight filed to call for injunctions against Nichia based on the Japanese Unfair Competition Act.

It is reported by Reuters on 30th of Jan that a spokesman of lighting manufacturer Osram announced the company has been approved by the German government to sell its Lamps unit to an association of Chinese bidders for 400 million euros (USD 425 million).

Noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed that Apple intends to introduce a new 3D Touch thin film sensor to the new iPhone to be released this year to replace current 3D Touch technology, reported Appleinsider.

Elemental LED announced today that Matt John, Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President of Business & Product Development, has been recognized by the National Association of Innovative Lighting Distributors (NAILD) with the Forces Under 40 award. The program is aimed at rewarding the achievements of young and dynamic leaders in the lighting industry.  Those recognized will be publicly honored at the 2017 NAILD Conference on February 19-22, 2017 in Orlando, Florida, as well as featured in Today’s Lighting Distributor magazine.

Combining a compact form factor with the latest platform features, the LuxiTune 2.3 tunable white light engine announced by LED Engin, Inc., a leader in high flux density LED products, targets the same track-lighting and small down-lighting applications as its Gen 2.0 products, while delivering the added performance and controllability benefits that were introduced with Gen 3.0. These advances, which include smooth deep dimming to 0.5%, no e-flicker and no visible flicker, also extend to additional control interfaces for DALI, DMX-RDM and Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) through daughter cards, that customers can chose to wire into their fixtures.

LED Linear luminaires normally fascinate due to their formal reductionism but they make it also possible to form completely new design elements. Liz West worked with our luminaires and created a colorful light installation which was recently revealed.

For the long-awaited inauguration of the Elbphilharmonie concert hall located on the harbour-side in Hamburg, a massive light and video setup was installed. It all culminated with a spectacular show in the evening of January 11. As a crucial part of this show, no less than 500 pcs. of P-5 and P-2 wash lights from SGM were applied.

MIZUSION, Hitachi Maxell’s new lantern powered merely by water and salt, is now on sale. It is able to sustain a decent lifespan of 10 years before use.

Philips and Cree both announced their revenues for 2016. Philips results showed a slight dip in overall revenue, but continual double digit growths from its LED lighting business. Cree on the other hand reported a slight decline in its overall revenue of about 8% compared to the same period last year.

Formosa Petrochemical Corporation (FPCC) announced Thursday about a new investment partnership with Japanese UV LED manufacturer Nikkiso to expand applications in medical devices, reported Taiwanese media UDN.

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science has awarded four Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and one Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants for projects targeting critical advances in solid-state lighting (SSL) technology. The five Phase I Release 1 grants will explore the technical merit and commercial potential of different innovative concepts or technologies that are expected to contribute to the achievement of the price and performance goals described in DOE’s SSL R&D Plan. 

LED A-line lamps continue to grow, accounting for 32.4% of the market in third quarter 2016, and posting a 124.2% increase in shipments compared to 3Q 2015. They posted a 65.1% quarter-over-quarter increase in the third quarter of 2016 compared to the previous quarter. Halogen, Incandescent, and CFLs all posted a quarter-to-quarter decrease, 7.5%, 17.2%, and 12.8% respectively. Incandescent lamp shipments showed a 5.6 % increase in 3Q 2016 compared to 3Q 2015 while halogen and CFLs posted an 11 percent and 53.9% decrease for the same time period.

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released a new Snapshot Report on LED troffer luminaires. Among the key findings of the Snapshot, which is based on DOE's LED Lighting Facts® database:

Tridonic, a leading global provider of smart and efficient lighting solutions, is opening a new office in Highland, New York to serve the North American market with smart solutions also for IoT applications. 

Sales of EUR 7.12 billion (US $7.66 billion), with comparable sales of -2.4% (2015: -3.5%) Continued year-on-year improvement in operational profitability Adjusted EBITA of EUR 645 million (2015: EUR 547 million Adjusted EBITA margin improvement of 180 basis points to 9.1% (2015: 7.3%)  Net income of EUR 185 million (2015: EUR 240 million), including EUR 143 million charges not applicable in 2015 for brand license, separation costs and financial expenses  Free cash flow of EUR 418 million (2015: EUR 632 million) or 5.9% of sales

Philips Lighting announced that its Supervisory Board will propose the appointment of two new members, Jill Lee and Gerard van de Aast. 

Revolution Lighting Technologies, a global provider of advanced LED lighting solutions, today announced that the small business portion of its New England based companies have completed approximately $25 million of business in 2016.  Through its divisions, Revolution Lighting worked closely with its small business customers to provide “turnkey” energy efficiency retrofit solutions, including the installation of LED technologies.

Foreverlamp, a privately held company founded by Peter Shen, former president of Philips Lighting and Electronics Group, announced a new President and a slate of Executive officers. The changes are designed to allow the company’s leadership team to maximize time and attention to focus on seizing additional new growth opportunities and initiatives for LED lighting.  

Modern LED City Light pillars equipped with the Street Light Control system and Einstone technology from Osram were installed in a city-wide intelligent network to form the basis for the Wipperfürth Smart City project. Luminaires transmit information via Bluetooth signal that is then recorded and processed by the new WippApp. Smartphone users that have downloaded the app can access a diversity of information such as offers from retailers, information about companies and much more. 

Dow Corning, a global leader in silicones, silicon-based technology and innovation, significantly expanded the design flexibilities for LED packaging manufacturers today with the addition of three new highly reflective silicone coatings to its fast-growing portfolio of advanced LED solutions. Offering targeted solutions for cutting-edge LED designs – such as chip scale (CSP) and chip on-board (COB) packaging – the three new products also deliver versatile processing options ranging from conventional dispensing to emerging printing methods.

Noribachi, a leading US-based technology company with a focus on digital lighting announced today that on January 26th, the company will unveil its latest products and technologies aboard the iconic battleship USS Iowa in the Port of Los Angeles.

For one weekend a year, Kitzbühel becomes the focal point of the winter sports world – the venue for the undisputed highlight of the Alpine World Cup season. Every January thousands of sports fans make their way to probably the most famous ski slope in Austria – the Streif – in the north-east corner of Tyrol. This year’s event takes place from 20th to 22nd January 2017, when visitors can look forward to thrilling races on the Hahnenkamm slopes and hours of entertainment near the finishing line at the KitzRaceClub. The Zumtobel Group is the official lighting partner for the third time in 2017 and has now combined a series of innovative solutions to perfectly showcase the KitzRaceClub.

Power management company Eaton today announced that the company’s lighting, residential and wiring devices solutions have helped actor and environmentalist Ed Begley, Jr. build one of North America’s greenest, most sustainable homes. The home, completed in late 2016, received a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. 

EVERLIGHT ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., a leading player in the global LED and optoelectronics industry, is showcasing the latest ranges of lighting, automotive and infrareds products at the upcoming 9th Light-Tech Expo,including the completely new highly efficient G-5630, a new high efficiency and high CRI G-COB Xuan, automotive ambient lighting sources and infrared transmission/receiving series. Everyone is welcome to visit EVERLIGHT at Hall 3, E24-4.

Organized by the Bureau of Foreign Trade, MOEA, the Taiwan International Lighting Show, also known as TILS, will be held from 12th to 15th of April, 2017 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 1, in conjunction with LED Taiwan 2017. The 2-in-1 fair, implemented by Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) , Taiwan Lighting Fixture Export Association (TLFEA), and SEMI Taiwan, will showcase the lighting products and services with topics “Smart Lighting“ and “Lighting Design” , to collect together LED lights, smart lighting, medical lights, automotive lighting system, IR lights, lighting for agriculture & aquaculture, High-Brightness LED, Laser, Sapphire, LED components, etc. under one roof.