LED lighting remains the largest market for sapphire application. LED has become a huge competitor for traditional lighting despite of higher costs. High prices, however, are a temporary problem. At-Vac believes that continual advancement of epitaxial wafer technology and LED lighting equipment’s current price fall trend will help lower retail prices. 

Lextar Electronics Corp. (“Lextar” or the “Company) reported consolidated revenue for the fourth quarter of 2013 of NT$ 3.32 billion (US$ 110 million) Consolidated gross margin was 10.1 percent, net profit for 4Q 2013 was NT$ 33 million. Consolidated revenue for full-year 2013 was NT$ 13.75 billion on year. Consolidated gross margin was 12.7 percent. Full-year net profit was NT$ 948 million. Earnings per share were NT$ 1.25.

U.S. cities are overhauling old lighting systems with energy efficient LED streetlights, as the energy efficient lights are much brighter than conventional lights, energy efficient and provide higher cost-saving capacity. However, blue-rich LED lights can disrupt the circardian rhythm of humans, animals, and even plants according to an article by Earth Island Journal.

Pictures have been leaked recently for the HTC One M8 which will be available later this month. More pictures have emerge this week showing a unique LED application to the phone’s design. 

The gradually maturing LED industry is also driving up light measurement demands. Taiwanese manufacturer UPRtek released its first popular portable spectrometer MK35ON in 2012. The company followed up on this success with the launch of a newer and more professional spectrometer, the MK350S Advanced in late 2013. 

Philips Hue has officially entered the Chinese market. Philips announced the arrival of Hue during an event at Shanghai Xintiandi on March 7th. It will be available for purchase at Apple Stores around China and online. 

Epistar’s February 2014 revenue outperformed initial estimations, according to Morgan Stanley. Growing lighting demands drove up revenue and operating margin. Client orders in 2Q14 exceeded the company’s production capacity, which will be beneficial in improving its product portfolio and increasing product’s Average Selling Price (ASP). 

Corning Glass Senior Vice President Tony Tripeny had some not so nice words to say about sapphire during a Q&A session at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on March 4. The company blasted the material in defense of their Gorilla Glass. 

Rise in lighting demands are driving up global LED market sales. Philips Electronics (Thailand) anticipate substantial growth in sales for the lighting sector this year. 

Drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists in Shoreline have safer roads at night, now that Seattle City Light has completed the conversion of streetlights on arterial roads to energy efficient LED technology.

The DOE has released two new reports this week on the LED MR16 lamps and retail lamps. In the sapphire field, diversified sapphire substrate applications continue to contribute to sapphire manufacturer profits, while China’s MOCVD market is still to prove itself internationally. Epistar deal with Philips last week gives it an edge in Taiwan’s patent market. For more info please see below:

“Technology is the future” was Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s slogan during an interview with local media Mingpao.com this week. He urged the special administrative region to focus more attention on innovative technology as it will become the driving force for the economy and alleviate poverty. For Li, the first step towards changing the world is as simple as switching to LEDs.

The LED industry has experienced unusually good performance during traditional slack season, according to a report by United Evening News. Backlight module manufacturers Unity Opto, Lextar, and Tekcore are optimistic as market demands for backlight rise. Benefiting from high resolution TV trend, TV backlight's high brightness demands have become even more evident, said industry insiders. Prices have stabilized following increase in luminosity despite fewer LED’s used and market polarization has become more evident as large companies expand. 

The LED industry took a hit in Feb. 2014 from fewer work days, due to Chinese Lunar New Year. Many manufacturers saw a dip in revenue from Jan. 2014. In comparison to the previous year manufacturers are seeing higher revenues due to increased demands in LED lighting. LED chip manufacturers Epistar and Epileds showed atypical growth in revenue this Feb. 2014 despite the traditional slack season, demonstrating  outstanding operational performance. 

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released a Snapshot Report on MR16 lamps, which utilizes the LED Lighting Facts® program's extensive product database to help industry stakeholders understand the current state and trajectory of the market for that class of products.

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released a special report on LED lamps available through the retail marketplace and targeted toward general consumers. The report follows similar reports published in 2011 and 2012. LED replacement lamps are available through many retail outlets, and CALiPER testing offers insights on performance trends from year to year.

Bharat Book Bureau presents LEDs Used in Night Vision Imaging System Compatible Lighting - Global Market Forecast. This new report provides global market consumption of packaged light emitting diodes (LEDs), also known as component-level bulbs, used in Night Vision Imaging System (NVIS) compatible lighting for non-civilian use, such as military, law enforcement, emergency medical services (EMS) and related. 

Armin Mayer, Marketing Manager at GE Lighting explores in this article whether UK cities decision to turn off streetlights due to limited budgets is wise.

A researcher from NC State University (NCSU) Department of Chemistry has launched a fundraising project on crowdfunding platform Experiment to make environmental friendly OLEDs.

For its 15th anniversary, Canada’s premier festival of lights conquered the hearts of visitors like never before. MONTRÉAL EN LUMIÈRE, triumphed once again and provided plenty of action during its twelve day run from Feb 20 to March 2. Arts, gastronomy, outdoor activities and urban illumination make this top-rated international Lights Festival impossible to ignore. In Montreal, lights are synonymous with joy and fun. With an array of interactive lighting projections the city eclipses all others when it comes to playing and entertaining outdoors in the frigid winter weather. There is nothing like ingenious interactive lighting to get people outside, dancing and sliding in the streets.

Taiwanese LED lead frame manufacturer I-Chuin’s revenue dropped in February this year, due to fewer work days during the Chinese holiday season and labor shortages after Chinese Lunar New Year. Consolidated revenue for February reached NT $ 419 million (US $13.8 million), MoM drop of 19.79 percent and YoY decline of 2.48 percent. 

MLS Lighting signed an order of RMB 1.42 billion (US $232 million) with 44 providential and regional dealers in China on Feb. 22, 2014. 

Feb. 2014 revenue for Taiwanese LED manufacturer Lextar reached NT $880 million, a 6.4 percent increase from the same period last year but a 27.7 percent drop from January. Combined revenue for January and February was NT $2.1 billion (US $69.4 million), increase of 18 percent from last year.

New studies show that close contact to LED lights cause damage to our retinas. Is this really the case though?

When it arrived a little more than three years ago, the Nissan JUKE used innovation to create a whole new market segment. Just as the Nissan Qashqai pioneered the original crossover market, the JUKE used dramatic design and advanced technology to break new ground in a more compact crossover package.

LED stocks delivered the strongest performance on the Taiwan bourse on March 4, 2014, according to a report by Chinese-language Commercial Times.  The report attributed the performance to rising LED market penetration rates and China’s environmental policies discussed at two conferences. Taiwanese LED manufacturers Unity Opto, LedTech Electronics, Tekcore and other stock prices soared, while other LED companies also saw stocks rebound.

The LED industry is entering into the traditionally slack second quarter. LED manufacturers have increased backlight orders in March as large international TV brand manufacturers launch new products this quarter. In addition to rising demands for LED lighting, LED manufacturer production utilization rates have also seen an increase in March. LED chip manufacturer Epistar and LED package manufacturer Everlight saw a rebound in production utilization this month. Operational performance is also anticipated to increase.

Chairman from Chinese LED manufacturers Chang Fang Semiconductor, Mason Technologies, and Elec-Tech International expressed their reasoning behind need for government support and regulation of LED industry. 

GT Advanced Technologies announced that it has acquired exclusive rights from Kyma Technologies, Inc. for its plasma vapor deposition (PVD) process technology and know-how. The PVD of nano-columns (PVDNC™) technology developed by Kyma deposits a high-quality growth initiation layer of aluminum nitride (AlN) on wafers prior to gallium nitride (GaN) deposition. 

The Chinese government first began providing LED lighting businesses with subsidies in 2009 which lead to explosive growth within the industry. However, at the time there was a lack in chip manufacturing technology so Metal-organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) units needed to be brought in from abroad.