Maturing technology and energy efficiency demands are driving growth of automotive LED lighting penetration rate. Automotive manufacturers are increasingly more willing to use LED automotive lighting, and demand has been especially strong for LED use in daytime running lights (DRL). Chinese automotive manufacturer Great Wall Motors plans to incorporate LED DRL into all passenger vehicles in 2014, which could drive revenue performance for LED automotive lighting module distributor Laster Tech.

It has come to our attention that RUIMINGSI operates a web site of www.mk350n.com, where the product MK350 is being displayed and marketed. No permission, or license to conduct such business has been issued to RUIMINGSI from UPRtek. Furthermore, we believe RUIMINGSI maybe committing an act of fraud in that they are providing instructions to potential customers for processing payments without actually providing the product. 

Apple OEM partner Foxconn’s Lunhua factory in Shenzhen has begun test assembly of sapphire substrate display cover iPhones, according to Chinese-language Apple Daily report. Foxconn has packaged 100 sapphire substrate display cover phones. Despite the small number assembled it is a huge development for Foxconn. Foxconn has declined to comment on individual client conditions.

Honglitronics is making adjustments to their general lighting products this year, said Deng Shoutie, Secretary to the Board of Directors. Speaking to investors on January 21st, Deng said that the company plans to focus on construction companies in their China channels, especially for engineering projects. The company will begin market segmentation in their international channels, increasing market development efforts.

GT Advanced Technologies Inc., announced a chief financial officer transition. CFO Richard Gaynor resigned, effective March 6, 2014, to accept a new position with a portfolio company of New Mountain Capital LLC, a private equity firm. The company also announced the appointment of Raja Bal as vice president, corporate controller and chief accounting officer. Bal will succeed Gaynor as CFO of GT on March 7.

Lighting orders for LED chip manufacturers are pouring in due to capacity competitions in the LED lighting and optic application markets. Sapphire substrate application has expanded from smartphones to iWatch. International sapphire manufacturers anticipate ingot prices to increase in February, which will allow performance in 1Q14 to be better than last quarter for sapphire material manufacturers.

The energy efficiency of LED lighting sources and design flexibility has won over the hearts of automotive manufacturers who have been increasingly introducing LEDs into automotive lighting over the past few years. Automotive lighting penetration rate has also continued to rise. Korean automotive manufacturer Hyundai analyzed the cost structure of LED automotive lighting during an automotive lighting conference at Lighting Japan 2014. The company is optimistic about the potential of LEDs in automotive lighting, but also believes that the supply chain still needs to overcome problems of high cost.

With the LED lighting era on its way, Epistar has seized LED lighting market shares through virtual vertical integration with downstream manufacturers, according to Economic Daily News. The company has currently invested over 9 percent in Edison shares totaling NT $300 million (US $9.9 million), and is considering increasing shares in the future.

The Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM), which is part of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and Philips, the global leader in lighting, will renew their joint research program into efficient LED light sources with a new continuous Industrial Partnership Program (IPP). Both parties signed the new agreement on Tuesday January 21, 2014 and are looking forward to the continued collaboration. More details about the research program will follow in due course.

Taiwanese LED package manufacturer Unity Opto began construction plans for a new factory in 2013 in order to strengthen their LED lighting strategy. The increase production lines for LED lighting modules are estimated to begin production before the end of 1Q14. The injections from the new production line are anticipated to increase the company’s revenue proportions from 23 percent in 2013 to 30-40 percent in 2014.

Taiwanese chip manufacturer Formosa Epitaxy (Forepi) has become one of three large suppliers for Samsung LED TVs. The company anticipates large shipment volumes in 1Q14 to help contribute to revenue proportions increasing from 15 percent to 20 percent this year, according to Investor. Legal persons estimate that Forepi 2Q14 will turn loss into profit, giving this year an opportunity to have a turnaround.

Xiaomi has established itself within three years, manufacturing electronic hardware products such as smartphones, set top box, television, and routers all under the leadership of Lei Jun, Founder, Chairman, and CEO. The company focuses on smart household appliances, but in the future plans to ultimately turn towards smart living room and bedroom.

Taiwanese LED chip manufacturer Genesis Photonics Inc (GPI) board meeting on January 21st decided to initiate capital increase, publishing 40 million shares at NT $14.5 each (US $.48) and raised resource of NT $580 million (US $19.2 million). According to a report released by the company, the increase in capital is for use in repaying bank loans. Shareholders can begin subscribing on March 11th.

Walking along the aisles close to the prototype lighting section at Lighting Japan 2014 at Tokyo Big Sight on Jan. 17, one could not miss the heavily perfumed smells of roses and stock that drifted out from Taiwanese LED manufacturer Macroblock’s booth.

LED lighting applications are gradually maturing following the increase in LED luminosity and rapid price drops. High entry barrier and cooperative stability makes the automotive lighting market a field LED manufacturers are anxious to break into. Lighting Japan 2014 therefore increased the number of LED automotive application lighting conferences.  Global automotive light manufacturer Stanley Electric was invited to discuss LED development in the automotive lighting market and speak about the new ADB (adaptive driving beam) headlight which is able to automatically adjust the headlight to suit the situation.

The Japanese government announced their budget for 2014 on December 22, 2013 of 95.88 trillion Japanese yen (US $920 billion), a new record high. The budget is mainly for increasing support in social welfare, national defense, and public buildings. The Japanese government increased tax fund and reduced bonds in order to reach their target of halving the current financial deficient of around 50 trillion Japanese yen.

Philips India and Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) have teamed up to give the Gateway of India a spectacular lighting makeover on January 24th.

Network based lighting controls have failed to gain much traction over the last 5 years despite the benefits that they can deliver for improving operating costs and reducing CO2 emissions. So why will the influx of LED lighting into the commercial building market open up new opportunities for controls?

Cree, a market leader in LED lighting, announced revenue of US$ 415.1 million for its second quarter of fiscal 2014, ended December 29, 2013. This represents a 20 percent increase compared to revenue of US$ 346.3 million reported for the second quarter of fiscal 2013, and a 6 percent increase compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2014. 

The earthquake that shook Japan in 2011 drove up LED bulb market demand. Unlike other countries, Japan first developed LED lighting in the residential market which substantially increased market demand as a whole. The lighting market continued expanding LED products in 2013, targeting indoor lighting including residential and commercial lighting, and launching tube lighting, panel lighting and ceiling lamps. LEDinside continues to observe commercial lighting market developments in 2014. As commercial lighting continues to expand, tube, panel, and niche market candle lighting are gradually maturing.

How can light be measured to better improve spatial lighting and brightness? Japanese electronics manufacturer Panasonic introduces a new 3D lighting spatial measurement “Feu” targeted at architects and lighting designers during the seminar “‘Quality of Lighting’—Brightness and Efforts to Improve the Quality of Lighting” that took place on Jan. 17, the third day of Lighting Japan 2014.

LED chip manufacturer Epistar’s Chairman B.J. Lee during the company’s year-end dinner on the 18th announced that the company is currently the largest LED chip manufacturer globally and hopes to become a first-class company in the future, according to Economic Daily News. The company’s LED lighting shipments have doubled this year and Epitar anticipate 2014 to be a better year than 2013 for the company.

Osram officially spin-off from parent firm Siemens AG of Germany in July 2013, becoming an independent firm in order to fully provide for their clients. Lighting Japan 2014 invited Osram to give a keynote speech in their smart lighting conference to elaborate on the changing trends in the LED industry. During the conference, Osram mentioned having a complete supply chain including chip, package, module, lamp, solution, and after sales services in order to fully develop the LED lighting market. How to use the advantages of LED products and technology to develop energy management systems is consistently a deeply discussed topic.

Considering Lighting Japan 2014 is a trade show focused on LED and OLED industry, it is probably no surprise that Philips featured a couple of OLED products at its booth from Jan. 15-17, 2014 at Tokyo Big Sight. In fact, the company has highlighted more OLED products at its booth this year than LED products. 

LED lighting demand is a key player for Taiwan LED package manufacture growth in 2014, according to a recent report from Morgan Stanley. Everlight’s goal is to increase lighting revenue percentage to 30 percent in 2014. Morgan Stanley estimates that the company’s lighting operations will double, but that increase in product inventory still requires a lot of attention.

Jason Wu, chairman of Taiwanese LED package manufacturer Edison Opto, is optimistic about lighting demand growth in 2014 and the opportunity for operations to rebound in March. The company expanded PLCC and COB production capacity in 2013 as LED lighting demands continued to rise. The company plans to further expand PLCC in 2014 and estimates that monthly production will increase to 800KK in 2014.

Chinese LED manufacturer Elec-Tech released a report on January 19th announcing the company’s various businesses’ preliminary estimated data for 2014. The company anticipates sales revenue in 2014 to increase by 50 percent compared to 2013, including sales revenue for their LED business which is estimated to increase 100 percent from 2013.

Tucked in the far corner of Lighting Japan 2014 show grounds last week, Philips Lighting booth attracted a huge crowd of visitors with its colorful Philips Hue LED bulb display. The company delivered a clear message of continuing its global strategy of promoting the colorful bulb at the show through a large cargo box display installed with 150 Philips Hue bulbs.

Seoul Semiconductor participated in Lighting Japan 2014 Exhibition which was held in Tokyo International Exhibition Center from January 15th to 17th. With LED lighting applications gradually maturing and limited space for LED dropping prices, HV LED products with advantages in simplified electric current module design are increasing in popularity. Seoul Semiconductor displayed their new Acrich series of products during this year’s Lighting Japan exhibition.

UBS: LED chip supply and demand has balanced out, increase in shipment volume and gross profit possible in the future.Expansion of chip production in 2013 was limited and around 20-30 percent produced was invalid. With LED lighting rapidly growing, supply and demand for the domestic LED chip industry has already balanced out. We anticipate that LED chips will increase both in shipments and gross profit in 2014. Leading manufacturers with advantages in scale and cost and with government backing have the potential  to increase competitiveness.