Mature LED applications are driving the industry into a new lighting era, and has opened up a new round of patent strategies. Taiwanese LED manufacturers have invested in technology R&D and patent strategies to acquire a niche in upcoming patent competition.

Universal Display Corporation, enabling energy-efficient displays and lighting with its UniversalPHOLED  technology and materials, today announced its results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2013.

Sony’s latest PS4 controller which comes with a LED bar has irked some consumers, according to a report by Product Review.com.

This week Epistar and Philips catches market attention as the two companies enter a patent cross-license agreement. This is the first time that Philips has signed an agreement with a Taiwanese company. In addition, Samsung and HTC latest smartphones are incorporating dual-flash LEDs. China’s largest AlInGaP maker Changelight has finally made up its mind about entering the InGaN market. For further details please see below:

Canadian based designer Thibault Sld come up with lighting fixtures that are able to adjust and move in accordance to human activity in the room.

The Canadian government has recently made amendments to minimum energy efficiency for 40W, 60W, 75W and 100W bulbs, according to a WTO custom and tariff website managed by the Chinese government. The new amendment will also allow the commercialization of a halogen lamp that was previously banned under the 2008 regulations.

Lower prices and government policies have stimulated the initiation of LED general lighting. From 2013 to 2015, the global lighting market will grow at 36 percent, 37 percent and 38 percent respectively. The residential LED lighting market demand will grow 157 percent, 90 percent and 62 percent respectively.

Wearable devices have stolen the show at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, according to Chinese-language United Evening News. Companies including Samsung, LG, Sony, and Huawei Device have all showcased their wearable designs at the show. Increasing investment from manufacturers is leading to a rise in sapphire material applications. Sapphire material prices began to rise at an average of 5-7% during 1Q14, which stimulated listed company Crystalwise Technology and ACME Electronics Corp. rising stock prices on Feb. 25, 2014. This in turn led to LED stocks strong growth.

Package free products have been making waves in the LED industry since 2013. LED manufacturers have been investing in R&D for package free and CSP (chip-scale package) products, including Samsung who recently announced the release of  a new CSP product. The company is launching their completely new 1.3mm x 1.3mm flash LED which uses CSP technology, called FC1313. The CSP FC1313 is small in size, has more design flexibility, and low power consumption. It has become known as the world’s smallest flash LED product.

Last Friday, Refond Optoelectronics (Refond) announced the acquisition of 13.04 percent share of Shenzhen LT Photoelectricity Technology Co. for RMB 30 million (US $4.9 million) through a preferred stock purchase agreement signed with Peng Xiaoling and Wang Weiquan. Refond however has corrected the announcement, reporting that the company purchased 15 percent share.

Unwilling to sit on the sidelines of the promising lighting chip market, China’s largest AlInGaP chip manufacturer Changelight has finally decided to enter InGaN LED epiwafer market.

Epistar announced today that it has reached a patent license agreement with Philips for dies in LED products. Under the license agreement, both companies grant each other a license to use each other’s patents for III-V compound semiconductor light emitting dies, which include InGaN LEDs and AlGaInP LEDs.

LED chip manufacturer Epileds reports fiscal year 2013 results. The company’s consolidated revenue reached NT $1.32 billion (US $43.6 million), slight dip of 2.15 percent from 2012. In 2013, Epileds invested large amounts of R&D resources into new flip-chip developments, which has bolstered high operations fees leading net income to drop YoY 27.82 percent to NT $60.47 million with EPS of NT $0.6.

LED package manufacturer Advanced Optoelectronic Technology (AOT), subsidiary of Foxconn Group, has released their financial report for fiscal 2013, the company’s  Earnings Per Share (EPS) NT $5.29 (US $0.79) last year, according to Commercial Times. This is not only the highest in the company’s history, but also has earned them the top spot in the LED industry.

Refond Optoelectronics and Jufei Optoelectronics report 2013 fiscal year financial performance. 

AIXTRON SE today reported revenues of EUR 182.9m (2012: EUR 227.8m) and an EBIT of -95.7m (2012: EUR -132.3m) for the full fiscal year 2013. In the fourth quarter of 2013, revenues were up sequentially to EUR 51.5m (Q3/2013: EUR 46.2m).

Management Commentary   "Our arrangement to supply sapphire materials to Apple is progressing well and we started to build out the facility in Arizona and staff the operation during the quarter," said Gutierrez. "We are pleased to have Apple as a sapphire customer and to be in a position to leverage our proprietary know-how to enable the supply of this versatile material. While our primary focus during the balance of the year is to continue to execute on our commitments in Arizona, our aim is to position GT not only as an exceptional sapphire supplier to ...

A new study from the University of Toronto Scarborough shows that human emotion, whether positive or negative, is felt more intensely under bright light. Alison Jing Xu, assistant professor of management at UTSC and the Rotman School of Management, along with Aparna Labroo of Northwestern University, conducted a series of studies to examine the unusual paradox of lighting and human emotion.

Dow Corning, a global leader in silicones, silicon-based technology and innovation, announced today that Kaz Maruyama, global industry director for Dow Corning Lighting Solutions, will deliver a presentation at the 15th Edition of Strategies in Light in Santa Clara, Calif. Titled “Materials Solutions for Maximizing LED Package Efficiency,” the presentation will detail how new high-performance optical silicones are increasing the efficiency of LED packaging design.

At the 2014 Taiwan International Lighting Show, U-TEL TECHNOLOGY will launch the new 12W AC12V Dimmable LED AR111 using CREE COB LED  from design to manufacture, all process are developed in Taiwan and uses the same G53 base as traditional halogen AR111. The product is compatible with most electronic transformers in the market and built-in dimming circuit to work with trailing edge dimmer controllers. It is one of the few products that can directly replace traditional 50W halogen AR111 without changing the fixture and with dimming features.

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TV LED backlight penetration rate is saturating as LED backlight product price competition continues. Brand manufacturers are hoping to further drop already low direct-type LED TV prices by introducing flip-chip products. Chinese LED package manufactures, including Refond Optoelectronics, All-Ring Tech, and Lightening Optoelectronics, are hoping to catch up through advancing their technological capabilities.Taiwanese LED package manufactures are currently facing increased pressure from product advancement and competition.   

The LED outdoor lighting replacement trend is growing with over 600 cities in the U.S. already planning to switch old streetlights to LEDs, according to Commercial Times. New York plans to switch roughly 25,000 streetlights to LEDs by 2017, making it the largest undertaking in the North American market. Europe, China, and Japan are also initiating replacement projects. LEDinside estimates that compound annual growth rate will surpass 20 percent in 2014-2017, which will encourage lowered stock prices.

A Malaysian city, Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), new building standards will make LED lighting mandatory in new commercial buildings or mixed developments to meet the city’s goal of becoming a green sustainable city by 2030, according to a report by The Star.

Shenzhen-based Deren Electronics latest 2013 financial results fell short of market expectations, according to a report by China International Capital Corporation Limited (CICC).

Zhejiang East Crystal Electronics Co. announced on Feb. 20, 2014 that they have received Jin Hua City Intermediate People’s court in Zhejiang, China, verdict regarding a contract dispute between subsidiary Zhejiang Orient Crystal Optics,  Crystaltech HK Co. and Zhejiang Yunfeng.

As flip-chip technology becomes more mature, there has been a clear increase in flip-chip applications this year. Those within the industry have been actively applying flip-chips into flash LEDs. Samsung has taken advantage of the expanded range of flash LED products and announced the launch of their new flash 2016 LED  with flip-chip technology this month.

Large smartphone manufacturers were under the spotlight at the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC) on Jan. 24, 2014. Samsung and HTC launched their flagship smartphone models at the show. Samsung’s S5 and HTC’s M8 both incorporated dual flash LED designs. Dual-color flash LEDs are projected to become standard specs in high-end smartphones.

Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA) and key strategic partners of the UAE’s Ecological Footprint Initiative announce the introduction of an indoor lighting standard in the UAE and call on residents and businesses to switch to energy efficient lighting as of today.

According to a recent top-hundred ranking list of domestic patent application in 2013 by Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Lextar Electronics Corp. remained in the first place in LED industry in Taiwan,. In the ranking, Lextar was also second to none in number of granted patents and invention patent applications. This was the third consecutive year that Lextar topped in patent application in Taiwan LED industry, revealing its effectiveness in technology and patent deployment.