According to Japanese media Nikkei, major LED manufacturer Nichia Corporation plans to invest around 22 billion Japanese yen (about US$197 million) by the end of 2020 to build a new laser diode (LD) factory at its current production base. LD can be used as a light source for projectors, endoscopy and headlights. The Japanese LED maker’s goal is to increase current LD production capacity by at least three-fold by 2020. 

Philips Lighting announces the results of the research on the response of bats to different light spectra published in Royal Society journal Proceedings B. The recently launched Philips ClearField LED lighting was used in the research and was proven not to disturb the habitat of light-shy bat species at night.

Idemitsu Kosan Co.,Ltd. and BOE Technology Group Co.,Ltd. have reached a basic understanding to form a strategic alliance for the development of high-performance OLED materials and displays.

IKEA announced that its smart lighting series Trådfri, which was launched in Europe last fall, will be compatible with Apple’s HomeKit, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa by the end of this summer. With this upgrade, users can control their home lighting with voice commands. IKEA also plans to expand its product range in the coming years.

As the world’s biggest “factory”, China has embraced millions of buyers and entities from all over the globe to source any product that you can imagine. Throughout the process, buyers have enjoyed the price competitiveness and advantages of economy-of-scale, but at the same time, faced challenges on various fronts when dealing with Chinese suppliers. From a survey conducted in 2016 by PP-OEM, nearly half of international buyers reported that the long and often changing lead time is one of their top issues among several other potential pain-points. Lead time refers to the period of time from the customer confirms an order to the date when the ordered goods are ready for delivery. In general, this process takes from 30 to 60 days, depends on the products and the manufacturer. 

MOCVD equipment is essential to LED production, and graphite wafer carrier is a unique component of MOCVD systems. Due to technology barriers, currently there are only three graphite wafer suppliers globally: German’s SGL Group, Japan’s TOYO TANSO and Dutch company Xycarb.

Following in the footsteps of Apple and Samsung, Taiwan’s contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry, better known as Foxconn, announced that Sharp and other Foxconn group companies will acquire an U.S. startup to develop Micro LED display technology.

Nanoco Group plc, a specialist in the development and manufacture of cadmium-free quantum dots and other nanomaterials, and Japanese OLED startup Kyulux Inc., announced the signing of a collaboration and joint development agreement.

Micro LED, the next generation display technology, has lighten up a new path for the LED industry. As global key players continue to jump on the Micro LED bandwagon, a whole supply chain has gradually taken shape. The development process of related applications has been ramped up, making possible an earlier than expected volume production for Micro LED-based large screen TVs. However, there are still many challenges lying ahead of commercial developments. Among them, two key elements play a pivotal role.

Cree, Inc. announced that Chairman, President and CEO Chuck Swoboda will step down from his executive positions and as a member of the Board of Directors following a transition period.  Mr. Swoboda intends to stay on until a successor is appointed, and thereafter will remain available as a consultant to the Company to ensure a seamless transition of leadership responsibilities.

2017 marks an important year for Apple as it plans to release its new Apple Watch alongside the highly-anticipated next generation iPhone to celebrate its tenth anniversary. Although the tech giant has kept a low profile regarding the innovations it will bring to the market, there have been numerous rumors circulating around the devices already.

The global custom and state-of-the-art lighting market is seeing a uptick in activity in the market as a result of latest advancements in lighting technology and applications. The market is witnessing rapid advancements as well as uses for lighting technologies, while the LED lighting technologies dominated the market in terms of revenue contribution in 2016. Lighting solutions and advancements in the market of note this week include: AV1 Group, Inc., Cree Inc., Koninklijke Philips N.V, Amazon.com, Inc., General Electric.

Lumileds today announced that George Craford, Lumileds Solid State Lighting Fellow, was selected for the IEEE Edison Medal for “a lifetime of pioneering contributions to the development and commercialization of visible LED materials and devices.” Craford will be presented with the medal at the IEEE Honors Ceremony in San Francisco on May 25, 2017, during the IEEE Vision, Innovations, and Challenges (IEEE VIC) Summit.

The amount of measurement points will at least double in the Helsinki region as a new supplementary air quality network of Vaisala and Pegasor sensors will be installed during the next year. The new system will enable agile and economical way to gather new information about the air quality of the Finnish capital city region.

CREE, a leader in LED components and LED lighting products, is the sponsor of the first European Horticulture Lighting Conference to be held on 23 May 2017 at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

At this year’s LIGHTFAIR International (LFI), the world's largest annual architectural and commercial lighting trade show and conference, Samsung Electronics has underlined its dedication to bringing innovative LED lighting solutions to the market. In particular, Jacob Tarn’s (Executive Vice President, LED Lighting Business, Samsung Electronics) presentation in front of 15 media people showed how Samsung's LED business has evolved from mere LED component business to full-blown end-to-end solutions ranging from LED packages to LED engine & Smart Lighting platform.  

Philips Lighting continues to push the boundaries of LED lighting innovations at the LIGHTFAIR International Trade Show and Conference taking place May 9 through 11, 2017 in Philadelphia. The company is introducing new offerings designed to help reduce energy and operating costs, improve the comfort and utilization of a space, and deliver value that goes beyond illumination. These latest technology advancements combine the accumulative improvements in energy efficiency with enhanced quality and capabilities of connected LED lighting.

Cree, Inc. extends its industry-leading OSQ Series of area and flood LED luminaires, delivering better performance, expanding applications and offering dramatic savings with the new Cree OSQ High Output (HO) portfolio. The new luminaire more than doubles the top lumen output of the original OSQ Series with up to 65,000 lumens and can replace multiple metal halide (MH) 1000W fixtures. The result is more than 80 percent energy savings using one OSQ-HO luminaire. 

Nichia Corporation (“Nichia”) announces that the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed a district court decision holding that Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. and Everlight Americas, Inc. (collectively, “Everlight”) have infringed three Nichia patents.

LIGHTFAIR International 2017, the world largest annual architectural and commercial lighting trade show and conference, will be held during May 9th to 11th in Philadelphia, USA this year. FSP Group as the world's tenth largest category AC-DC power supply manufacturers will attend this important event in the field of LED and lighting. FSP is committed to the development of LED lighting power supply products for 10 years. All full series products from 6 Watts to 400 Watts can be used in customers’ lighting products and they are well received by the users’ recognition and support in the industry.

AIXTRON SE, a major provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, announced that OSRAM Opto Semiconductors has qualified the first of multiple AIX G5 C planetary systems for the manufacturing of GaN (gallium nitride) LEDs. As market demand for high-quality optoelectronic semiconductors is increasing due to the continually growing number of applications in the illumination, sensing and visualization sectors including automotive, communication, display, health and food, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors is expanding production capacities, e.g. at its Regensburg facility. In this context, the company makes also use of AIXTRON’s AIX G5 C planetary platform.

With an aim to reduce energy consumption, the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) has moved into the second phase of its Energy Savings Performance Contract with multinational conglomerate Johnson Controls to provide energy-efficient lighting at 11 Hawaii airports and solar PV systems at Honolulu International Airport.

Altech Chemicals Limited (Altech/the Company) is pleased to advise that following the recently announced $2 million share placement to existing cornerstone investor MAA Group Berhad (MAAG), the Company is now offering a Share Purchase Plan (SPP). 

The Dubai Municipality has recently signed a MOU with two major developers to boost the use of energy-efficient lighting.

Philips Lighting announced that it has completed the cancellation of 3.5 million its own shares. 

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO) has announced financial results for its first fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2017. Results are reported in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") and are also reported adjusting for certain items ("Non-GAAP"). A reconciliation between GAAP and Non-GAAP operating results is provided at the end of this press release.

Infineon Technologies AG has reported results for Q2 2017 (period ended 31 March 2017) with revenue up 7% to €1,767 million quarter-on-quarter. Opera­ting profit excluding special items increased to 296 million Euros ($322 million) in the quarter, which slightly missed the average forecast for 299 million Euros, according to Reuters.

EVERLIGHT Electronics Co., Ltd. on April 25, 2017 filed its complaints with Tokyo District Court against Nichia Corporation, Citizen Electronics Co., Ltd. and Daiko Electronics Co., Ltd. for patent infringement.

People visiting this year’s Burning Man will be awed by an enormous installation project created by a group of artists from San Francisco: a lifelike tree decorated with 15,000 LED lights, motion sensors and sound detectors.

Epistar Corporation, a leading innovator and manufacturer of LED solid-state lighting technologies, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Lowe’s Companies, Inc. and Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC (collectively “Lowe’s”) in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on April 28, 2017. The complaint asserts that Kichler Lighting’s LED filament bulbs and Utilitech’s LED bulbs sold by Lowe’s infringe several Epistar patents and seeks injunctive relief to halt further sale of the infringing products.