Germany-based semiconductor equipment provider AIXTRON published its financial results of the first quarter of 2020. The company reported an on-year increase for order intake but drops in revenue and profit. AIXTRON’s order intake grew by 28% YoY for 1Q20 to EUR 68.8 million (US$ 74.9 million) due to continued strong demand for the increasing use of LED-based display applications and the production of lasers for optical data transmission and 3D sensors, especially in mobile phones. The revenues for in Q120, however, dropped by 40% YoY and 45% QoQ...

Connected streetlights and smart city solution supplier Ubicquia announced that it has acquired smart city platform from GE Current, a Daintree Company. Ubicquia bought all CityIQ® assets including technology, related patents and contracts with major customers and cities across the US and Canada. In addition, all CityIQ Development, Sales and Customer Success team members across Montreal and Cleveland will be fully integrated into Ubicquia’s organization. (Image: Ubicquia) The CityIQ platform has been applied in several cities in the U.S. and ...

Lawrence Lin, who took over the role of CEO in LEDVANCE in November 2018, has left the company, covered by EdisonReport and lightED. Qinghuan Sun, President of MLS, has been appointed as CEO and Managing Director of LEDVANCE since Lin left. Erol Kirilmaz, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, on the other hand, has become Managing Director in the United States and Canada on an interim basis. (Image: LEDVANCE) Lin had been appointed as CEO and Managing Director in 2018 after Jacob Tern, who took the role for only eight month...

Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) in Austria has develop a new technology by using LED instead of laser as light sources to make metal component by 3D printing. The research project is named Selective LED-based Melting (SLEDM). SLEDM uses high-power LEDs as light source to melt metal powder for 3D printing manufacturing. The technology is similar to selective laser melting (SLM) and electron beam melting (EBM), in which metal powder is melted by means of a laser or electron beam and built up into a component layer by layer. However, by replacin...

Tridonic, the lighting technology company of the Zumtobel Group, welcomed its new CEO on May 1, 2020. Meanwhile, Dutch lighting company Signify report the pricing of its Eurobond to refinance the bridge loan for the acquisition of Cooper Lighting. Hugo Rohner has become the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tridonic of the Austria based Zumtobel Group. Hugo Rohner is an internationally experienced manager in the fields of digitalisation and IoT (Internet of Things) and was most recently the CEO of the Skidata Group in Salzburg. He will reports directly...

Healthe announced the expansion of the Cleanse® Series that uses UV light which the company claims to be safe for human exposure to continuously sanitize public environments using UV light The UV light equipped series include Cleanse Portal, Cleanse Downlight and Cleanse Air-Sanitizing Troffer. The Cleanse Portal is a free-standing walkthrough arch sanitizer, similar in size and shape to a metal detector, that inactivates bacteria and viruses on skin, clothing and goods with a dosage requirement as low as 20 seconds. The Cleanse Downlight combines general illum...

Signify has teamed up with Russian innovative farming company RIAT to pioneer the growing of tomatoes and cucumbers in a vertical farm without daylight. During the research phase in 2019, RIAT achieved a yield comparable to advanced traditional greenhouses using Philips GreenPower LED grow lights. To cultivate tomatoes and cucumbers that require intensive lighting vertically without the exposure of daylight, sufficient lighting system is critical. Signify supplied its LED grow lights to the Russian company to help it achieving a yield performance comparable to tradit...

In a report covered by Driving Vision News (DVN) in December 2019, we found that Valeo’s PictureBeam system was tested. The adaptive driving beam (ADB) system was co-developed by Valeo and Cree with a resolution of nearly 4000 pixels to deliver road marking functions. ADB system with high resolution is a trend for automotive lighting. Many automotive component manufacturers have teamed up with LED companies to develop LED array solutions based on Micro LEDs. The PictureBeam system created by Valeo and Cree is one of them. The two companies demonst...

Velodyne Lidar announced a three-year agreement with French autonomous vehicle specialist EasyMile. EasyMile uses Velodyne’s LiDAR sensors in production of its EZ10 autonomous passenger shuttles that are deployed on public and private roads in more than 30 countries around the world. (Image: Velodyne Lidar/EasyMile) EasyMile will enhance its EZ10 shuttle fleet with Velodyne’s sensors for safe and efficient navigation on roadways. Electric and driverless, the EZ10 shuttle was the one of the first autonomous shuttles launched in April 2015. It has...

Cree posted the financial results of the third quarter of its fiscal 2020, ended March 29, 2020. The company registered a revenue of US$215.5 million, representing an on-year decrease of 21% and a 10% decrease compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2020. GAAP net loss from continuing operations attributable to controlling interest for the third quarter was US$61.6 million, or US$0.57 per diluted share. On a non-GAAP basis, net loss from continuing operations attributable to controlling interest for the third quarter of fiscal 2020 was US$15.5 million, or US$0.14 ...

A U.S. based LED company Atomic Blue announced the launch of its high-powered UV-C LED light. The light has been tested by the National Institutes of Health of the U.S. government on the COVID-19 Virus and shown to eradicate the virus by 99.9999%. The study was conducted in a controlled laboratory setting on N95 masks and steel surfaces. According to the NIH website: "N95 respirators can be decontaminated effectively and maintain functional integrity for up to three uses. N95 respirators are designed for single-use and are worn by healthcare provid...

LiDAR supplier Quanergy Systems announced the expansion of its Flow Management™ Platform to support solutions that enforce social distancing amid the crisis of COVID-19 pandemic to halt the spread of disease. These solutions will assist businesses and public entities around the world in returning to work while keeping people safe. Quanergy’s Flow Management Platform combining 3D LiDAR sensors and AI-powered QORTEX™ Perception Software enables the development of social distancing solutions to anonymously and accurately track and analyze t...

Seoul Semiconductor updated its business performance of the first quarter of 2020 with a consolidated revenue of KRW 243 billion (US$199.75 million) and operating profit of KRW 6 billion (US$4.93 million). Despite abruption to production facilities for most global manufacturers due to COVID-19, Seoul achieved its guided range of KRW 240 billion to KRW 260 billion in revenues for the quarter. To mitigate manufacturing risks, Seoul has built manufacturing sites in various locations such as Korea, China, Vietnam and in the US. This has helped the company to...

Leading laptop and PC makers including MSI, Acer, ASUS and Lenovo are launching products adopting Mini LED technology. The technology is also believed to be seen on the new Apple iPad Pro and MacBook Pro coming in the second half of 2020. With more products using Mini LED entering the market, many hold a positive attitude toward the supply chain. (Image: Pixabay) For Mini LED chip manufacture, Taiwan’s Epistar has expanded its Mini LED production capacity with increased capital expenditures. The new capacity is scheduled to be ready by th...

A research team consisting of material science and nanotechnology specialist and virologist is working on developing a protective film based on nanostructure as a novel mask material to diminish virus and protect healthcare professionals from infection. Sudipta Seal, an engineer specializing in material science and nanotechnology, initiated a project with Griffith Parks, a virologist at College of Medicine of University of Central Florida (UCF) to create nanostructures that can capture the virus and then trigger a chemical reaction using UV light to destroy it. The scienti...

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced a new development of a multi-functional luminescent film that can visualize near-infrared light through wavelength conversion that converts near-infrared light to visible light for innovative applications. Dr. Kwon Seok-joon at the Nanophotonics Research Center of KIST and Ko Doo-hyun, a professor of applied chemistry at Kyung Hee University jointly led the team to develop the flexible, transparent and washable film which can convert infrared light into visible light. The results were published in the ...

A wide range of disinfecting products adopting UV LEDs or UV lamps are become a hit in the consumer electronics market as people are using them to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. However, The International Ultraviolet Association (IUVA) and RadTech North America consisting of UV equipment vendors, scientists, engineers, consultants, and members of the medical profession published a press release to inform the public that UV light is not safe to be used directly on the human body. (Image: Pixabay) These organizations noted that there are no protocols t...

LG Innotek has been planning to quit its LED business and a recent report by TheElec, a Korean media, covered that LG Innotek has sold its LED sector and the back light unit (BLU) LED business will be taken over by Seoul Semiconductor and Wooree E&L. Wooree E&L, a LED packager from South Korea, has secured the sales permit from LG Innotek to sell BLU LED of laptops, monitors, TVs and signage to LG Eletronics, Dell and HP via LG Display. The other Korean LED company Seoul Semiconductor is reportedly taking over more ...

LEDinside has been tracking the schedule and progress update of worldwide events related to the LED industry. Until April 25, 2020, there are more events rescheduled or cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Display Week 2020 has been postponed to August 2-7 and LEDucation has been cancelled. Display Week 2020, originally planned to take place during June 7-12 in San Francisco, USA, is now moved to August 2-7 by the event organizer, the Society for Information Display (SID). SID noted in its press release published in April 15 that the event has be...

Signify announced the company’s first quarter 2020 results with sales amounted to EUR 1.43 billion (US$ 1.53 billion), down by 3.5% YoY. With adjusted for 1.3% currency effects and 10.6% consolidation (mainly related to the acquisitions of Cooper Lighting and Klite) and other changes, comparable sales declined by 15.3%. LED-based sales represent 78% of total sales. The adjusted gross margin increased by 50 bps to 38.2%, including a negative currency effect of 10 bps. Adjusted indirect costs decreased by EUR 4 million (US$ 4.295 million). The Adjusted EBIT...

Sweden-based horticulture lighting technology provider Heliospectra announced a new order from Turner Construction in Miami, Florida. The systems integrator and supplier will install the controllable spectra ELIXIA LED lights for several upcoming greenhouse facilities. Turner Construction is leading the design, construction, and installation services for the commercial-scale greenhouse projects across the United States in 2020. The Heliospectra ELIXIA 600W LED light will benefit the greenhouse projects by improving crop quality and performance in a wide v...

Velodyne Lidar announced its partnership with ground support equipment provider TLD. The two companies signed a three-year agreement that TLD will LiDAR sensors from Velodyne for manufacture its TractEasy autonomous electric baggage tractor for airport and industrial operation. (Image: Velodyne/TLD) TLD will grow its TractEasy tractor fleet with Velodyne’s sensors for safe and efficient navigation on roadways in a variety of weather conditions. TractEasy is a zero-emission tow tractor that transfers baggage and freight from airport terminals to aircra...

Signify, the world’s largest lighting company, recently suspended its 2020 financial outlook and cut 20% wage of its employees in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 22, the company further published a press release explaining its perspective of the crisis. Stephen Rouatt, Signify’s Head of Strategy, Alliances and Market Insights, looks at the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic Rouatt said that the impacts on the global economy caused by COVID-19 will likely to continue until 2021 depending on how governments around the world contain th...

A new study conducted by the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics (IBP) in Germany showed that full spectrum LED products deliver better visual comfort compared to standard LED products. Full spectrum LEDs are usually categorized as those emitting light similar in composition to natural sunlight. The soon-to-be published Fraunhofer IBP study incorporated a technical comparison of the LED spectra to daylight spectra, a literature review addressing the effect of light spectra on humans, and a psychological study with 83 persons in an office setting. Each par...

LiDAR sensing technology is now commonly known as a solution for automotive driving and ADAS system, but the technology also leverage its edges in a time of the COVID-19 crisis. An indoor motion analysis software developer, iinsider, released SafeDistance, a free upgrade to its LiDAR-powered solution for monitoring and analyzing crowd density in public spaces. The software utilizes LiDAR sensors and 3D perception software from Quanergy to help airport, venue and facility managers monitor and mitigate crowding and congestion, and maintain safe distancing within t...

The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has developed a free online tool, the horticulture luminaire calculator, to assist growers evaluating the performance, efficiency, and economics of a wide variety of horticultural luminaires, typically used in greenhouses and other controlled agricultural environments. The horticulture luminaire calculator enables growers to compare different luminaires and choose the optimize solutions for their applications. (Image: LRC) Horticulture lighting is become more significant with indoor farming and high-...

Osram announced in its latest press release that the company will shift production of its cinema lamp to Berlin and close the production site in Eichstätt, a Bavarian town in Germany. Osram said the decision is made in response to structural changes in the cinema industry and additional economic challenges being faced as a result of the coronavirus. The market for cinema lamps is impacted by the pandemic as people are not able to go to cinemas, leading to shrinking demands and production decline. German media Die Welt reported that the measure was criticized by IG M...

On March 24, 2020, in a patent infringement lawsuit which Nichia filed against HTC NIPPON, a Japanese affiliate of Taiwanese Company HTC and Kanematsu Communications, the distributor of HTC NIPPON, Tokyo District Court rendered a judgment, holding that defendants have infringed Nichia’s patents. Nichia filed the patent lawsuit in 2016 claiming HTC infringed its patents. In the judgment, the court found that HTC’s smartphone (product name: HTC Desire 626) distributed by defendants were equipped with white LEDs which infringes N...

Taiwan-based display manufacturer AUO has partnered with PlayNitride to unveil their latest Micro LED technology development. The two companies leverage their expertise and developed a 9.4-inch flexible Micro LED display with the world's highest 228 PPI pixel density, achieving yet another industry milestone with pioneering technological breakthroughs. The 9.4-inch flexible Micro LED display is based on an LTPS TFT driven backplane which allows pixels to be lighted separately. With a high-speed mass transfer technology, more than 5.5 million Micro LED...

The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) will invest US$100 million to four agri-tech companies to set up high-tech agricultural facilities in Abu Dhabi including the world’s largest vertical farm for R&D and other production farms to solve the challenge of local food production. The ADIO partners include AeroFarms, Madar Farms, RNZ and Responsive Drip Irrigation (RDI). AeroFarms from the U.S. will build a new 8200 square meter indoor vertical farm focusing on R&D and commercialization of relevant local crops by leveraging its expertise a...