The Illuminating Engineering Society recently shared an article by Don Peifer from his recent column in LD+A that addresses whether the hype surrounding LEDs match the reality? Or put another way: Is the battle over and have LEDs already won? Below is the excerpt posted on their website:

NBA player Kobe Bryant speaks about the future of basketball courts during a tour to China recently, with the infusion of LED technology players will probably be able to train with more precision. 

Plessey announced today that it has entered into a distribution agreement with Solid State Supplies Ltd., an electronics distributor and provider of advanced complete solutions headquartered in Redditch, UK, to expand its European network with coverage in the UK and Ireland market for its GaN-on-Si LED products.

Changfang Lighting announced on Aug. 15, 2014 that the company’s restructure application to absorb Kang Ming Sheng Industrial (KMSI) was halted by China Regulatory Commission over suspected insider trading by financial organization Guosen Consultant, according to several Chinese media reports.

Russia hopes to further raise China-Russia LED trade volume, and attract top Chinese LED manufacturers to invest in the country, said Alexey Gruzdev, the Russian trade representative to China during a Russia’s lighting market analysis and strategy forum in Shenzhen, China.

Latest developments between Elec-Tech - International (ETI) and NVC Lighting have taken another dramatic turn.

An  Indian municipality is planning to upgrade outdated sodium vapor lights with LEDs, according to a report from The Indian Times.

LEDinside had reported theft of LED lights from cars to grow marijuana, but who would have thought religious icons lit by LED might be targeted as well?

Some of you may recall last Friday LEDinside posted an article about the cons of smart bulbs is the requirement of having a fully charged smartphone, that concluded a voice controlled smart bulb would be the perfect solution. Well, it turns out an Israeli entrepreneur Ori Indursky plans to change all that with smart lamp socket Vocca.

Wearable smart LED devices are often known to be rather bulky and downright ugly. To make up for this market gap for fashionable wearable devices, Elemoon has followed in the footsteps of Memi in creating a smart bracelet to attract female consumers.

Things do not look too well for former NVC Lighting CEO Wu Changjiang this week. After being ousted from the company board, Wu employees got into a violent fight with ETI staff. The power transition after the merge is getting messier with ETI CEO Wang Donglei and Wu throwing accusations at each other. With Apple iPhone 6 launch date just one month away, latest leaks noted the phone will still be using dual-flash LEDs. Great news for those who enjoy taking selfies on their smartphones. LEDinside has also launched its latest ranking report for Chinese manufacturers. For more please see below:

Smart bulbs are a very interesting smart home appliance and often the first products families introduce into the household, according to a report by Sinai. Manufacturers design concept is also easy to understand: Use the smartphone to control the light switch, and even swap colors, or audio system and other interactive products.

The LED industry in China and Taiwan has gone from cooperation to competitive, said Epistar Chairman B.J. Lee. Even though China is still a major threat, Taiwan manufacturers cannot always choose to escape, or Taiwan will have no market strategies left. It is important to see where one’s opportunities are and think about whether Taiwan’s LED industry has any chances of winning. If there are opportunities then it is important to establish an environment beneficial to the industry’s development.

Osram Sylvania is relocating its North American headquarters in Danvers and nearby R&D facility to a single site in Wilmington next summer, according to a report by the Boston Globe.

Danish city Copenhagen plans to roll out a pilot project featuring smart LED lights, according to a Nature World news Report.

Live music lighting designer Nick Whitehouse is currently out on the road for a year long tour with pop superstar Justin Timberlake, and he has chosen to specify Philips Vari-Lite VL3000 Spot, VL3015 Spot and VL3500 Wash luminaires as the backbone of his stylish and dynamic design.

What can we learn from the recent NVC Lighting’s power struggle between company founder Wu Changjiang and Elech-Tech International (ETI) CEO Wang Donglei? According to a recent report from Tencent, the dramatic transition of power and management reflects how Chinese companies operate differently from the West.

The LED industry showed stable growth in first half of 2014, with conventional peak season arriving in 3Q14, many LED manufacturers July 2014 revenues set new historical records including listed companies Everlight, FOREPI and Lextar. LED upstream sapphire substrate manufacturers revenues were slightly weak last month, with only listed company Crystalwise Technology showing strong revenue income. Other listed sapphire substrate companies including Rigidtech and others have also expanded  production capacity. 

Latest lighting technology would help realise aspirations for New Zealand stadiums Wellington, New Zealand – New Zealand stadiums have the opportunity to become world leaders in pitch lighting, with Philips’ release in New Zealand of LED floodlights as part of its ArenaVision range. “Sports lighting technology has developed considerably in recent years, with LED floodlights now able to provide the high lumen output required for high-definition broadcasting standards, while also providing control and flexibility to manage light spillage onto neighbouring roads and properties,” said Gordon Wiffen, General Manager of Philips Lighting New Zealand.

Not to be mistaken for a swimwear company, Bikini Berlin is a culturally protected Grade II listed building in the German capital, whose recent revitalization included the installation of over 1000 energy-efficient LED luminaires from Elation Professional.

Lextar Electronics Corp (Lextar) today reported consolidated revenue for the second quarter of 2014 of NT$ 3.8 billion (US $130 million), up 17.7 percent from previous quarter. Consolidated gross margin was 14.5 percent, with a 2 percent QoQ growth. Net profit for 2Q 2014 was NT$ 163 million; a basic EPS for 2Q was NT$ 0.32. 

Nokia announced the  launch of two feature phone mdels to come with built-in LED flash lights.

Cree, a market leader in LED lighting, today announced revenue of US $436 million for its fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, ended June 29, 2014. This represents a 16 percent increase compared to revenue of US $375 million reported for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, and an 8 percent increase compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2014. GAAP net income for the fourth quarter was US $30 million, or US $0.24 per diluted share, an increase of 6 percent year-over-year compared to GAAP net income of US $28 million, or US $0.23 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013.

GE’s Lumination™ LED DownLights are now available with new reflector finishes and anodized color options, offering even greater versatility and customization of the energy-efficient Lumination DI Series for new construction of high-end retail, commercial office and hospitality spaces.

Japan’s Fukuda Crystal Laboratory has successfully developed a 50 mm (about 2-inch) ScAlMgO4 (SCAM) crystal, according to a Chinese-language Nikkei Technology report.

Recently, Taiwanese LED manufacturer Arima Optoelectronic Corporation (AOC) has released an official response to a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Toshiba, according to a report from Money DJ.com.

Apple might still be using the dual-LED flash technology, True Tone Flash, in the latest iPhone 6 after all, according to numerous reports by MacRumors, Slashgear, 9to5Mac and others.

According to a report by government-owned Jamaica Information Services the country’s public service agency will be replacing 200 High Pressure Sodium (HPS) streetlights with LEDs.

GE Lighting has consolidated its leading position in stadium lighting in China with the partnership for latest big sports event,  which encompass all 28 sports on the Olympic program, will be held from August 16 to 28. The success, banking on high-quality lighting and energy efficient solutions catering for local market, honed GE Lighting’s image as a frontrunner in serving the country’s big-namelighting projects.

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