Philips Lighting announced the company’s 2018 first quarter results. “As previously indicated, the first quarter marks a soft start to the year, mainly due to a weak performance in Home, most notably in the United States. Our other three businesses further improved their operational profitability, particularly Professional which increased its adjusted EBITA margin by 310 basis points,” said Eric Rondolat, CEO of Philips Lighting. “I am pleased with the progress made on the cost side with a 13% reduction in our indirect cost base, and with our free cash flow performance after a strong fourth quarter. Our focus remains on implementing our strategy toward the shift to LED, Systems & Services.”

Tridonic, specializing in smart and efficient lighting solutions, announced its new DC-String technology, the DC String is now commercially available with a new 100-watt AC/DC power supply designed for the US market.

To further enhance the customer experience, Lowe's Companies, Inc. and GE announced an expanded partnership to help customers easily find the right light bulb for their home while also saving energy and money.

Earlier today, the Board of Directors of LG Electronics (LG) approved the acquisition of leading automotive lighting and headlight systems provider ZKW Group, capping a deal worth more than EUR 1.1 billion, LG's largest acquisition to date. Under the terms of the transaction, LG Electronics will acquire a 70 percent stake in ZKW Group with parent company LG Corp. purchasing the remaining 30 percent.

Heliospectra AB (publ) presented their Interim Management Statement for January - March 2018.

Heliospectra AB, specializing in intelligent lighting technology for greenhouse and controlled plant growth environments, announces the commercial release of the company's new light control software HelioCORE™. HelioCORE enables businesses to automate and connect growing environments in order to reliably monitor and forecast yields, and ensure consistent, high-quality crops year-round. Compatible with Heliospectra's  LX60 and RX30 intelligent LED lighting solutions, the HelioCORE system is now available for order.

Lighting Science, specializing in in human-centric lighting solutions, announced the launch of the international versions of its GoodDay A19, GoodNight A19, and Sleepy Baby LED bulbs, and the offering of these products in the UK market. These LED lighting products will be available for both consumer and commercial sale beginning in May 2018, through a partnership with the premier UK distributor, Target Holdings UK Ltd.

Autani, LLC, a proven leader in building controls and IoT, has been selected as the official vendor for the lighting control system in LG Electronics' new sustainably-designed North American headquarters located in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Cree, Inc. on April 25 announced financial results for its third quarter of fiscal 2018, ended March 25, 2018.

On the road to developing autonomous technologies, perhaps nothing is more important than the vehicle being able to see the world around it. To help meet this challenge, Magna and Innoviz Technologies will supply the BMW Group with solid-state LiDAR for upcoming autonomous vehicle production platforms.

Thorn Lighting announces the launch of Flow, taking versatile outdoor lighting to the next level. The timeless, understated design language of this brand new luminaire makes it easy to picture in any setting. But it’s not just Flow’s appearance that makes it so flexible. The luminaire features six mounting variants: post-top, lateral, amenity, suspended, catenary and wall-mounted. There are a range of positive and negative tilting options, and a total of 13 optical possibilities. As a result Flow suits all kinds of urban applications including large urban roads, smaller streets and residential areas, city centres, car parks, cycle paths, footpaths, train platforms, education and sports institutions, industrial buildings and area applications.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $15 million to conduct early-stage, innovative research to drive further breakthroughs in solid-state lighting (SSL) technology. This funding will accelerate the development of high-quality light-emitting diode (LED) and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) products with the potential to reduce lighting energy costs for American families and businesses and to enhance U.S. global competitiveness.

As a result of mixed market environments and the ongoing weak US dollar, Osram has adjusted its forecast for fiscal year 2018 and will be accelerating its move to focus on rapidly growing high-tech markets.

Nokia Bell Labs and Osram have teamed up to create the foundation of affordable, high-performance indoor radio networks. In a joint initiative the network specialist and the lighting company have been exploring how ceiling luminaires can be used to create a tightly integrated interior radio network with 5G capabilities. “Our office and industrial luminaires are already networked for remote control,” said Thorsten Müller, Head of Innovation at Osram. “In this R&D project, we equipped them with special broadband radio modules, allowing mobile devices like cell phones and laptops to connect to the luminaire network and transmit data.”

According to the latest report from LEDinside, a division of the market research firm TrendForce, 2018 Commercial Lighting, Smart Lighting and Panel Light Market Report, the global LED indoor commercial lighting market will reach USD 15.87 billion in 2018, accounting for 42% of the global LED lighting production value, moreover, the global LED commercial lighting is estimated to achieve CAGR of 3% during 2018-2021, growing slower than previous years, mainly resulting from the price decrease of LED lighting products and the reduction in market installation.

The Society for Information Display (SID) and Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) announced the complete agenda for the SID Display Week 2018 Business Conference. Featuring many of the leading companies, analysts and industry executives in the display industry, the Business Conference kicks off the well-attended Display Week Business Track and will be held on Monday, May 21, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., at the Los Angeles Convention Center. 

Tokushima, Japan – April 25, 2018 - Nichia Corporation is proud to introduce discrete color options in its Direct Mountable Chip series, a similar technology to the industry’s Chip Scale Package (CSP).  Nichia’s Direct Mountable Chip color lineup, consisting of Royal Blue, Green, Amber and Red, along with its previously released white options, enables lighting customers to take advantage of Nichia’s unique Direct Mountable Chip technology in a wide range of applications.

Society for Information Display's Display Week 2018 will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from May 20 - May 25, 2018. The Display Week technical program starts with Short Courses on Sunday, May 20, and continues with Technology Seminars on Monday, May 21,  followed by the Symposium, Tuesday through Friday. This year's program consists of technical tracks of over 70 technical sessions consisting of nearly 400 oral and poster presentations.  For management and business people, the Business Conference takes place on Monday, ...

Recently, HC Semitek, Leyard and Changelight have revealed their progress of Mini and Micro LED, and so has Shenzhen MTC.

Concepts of Micro/Mini LED display are more and more popular. Enterprises' developments in this segment also become focuses of the LED industry.

With the increasing trend of integration of smart cities, smart homes and the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, governments in particular have taken the lead in promoting smart lighting projects in many cities, which have the advantages of energy saving, convenience, and easy control, making the demand for smart lighting grow rapidly. 

The head of Samsung Visual Display expressed that Samsung Electronics has been researching methods to apply quantum dot technologies to its Micro LED TV.

As Micro LED still encounters certain technical bottlenecks, some companies are currently focusing on the transition technology Mini LED instead. The squad proactively developing Mini LED applications includes panel giants (Innolux and AUO), LED chip makers (Epistar and Lextar), and LED packaging firms (EVERLIGHT, AOT, and Harvatek).

illumiPure Corp. and WeedMD have entered into a Joint Proof of Concept (PoC) Agreement to assess the tools and techniques of illumiPure's high-quality LED horticulture lighting system. The intent of the PoC is to document the improvements in quality of WeedMD's cannabis product while reducing electricity usage and maintenance costs. The project will record data points and crop characteristics developed throughout the grow cycle while utilizing the illumiPure LED broadband spectrum system.

Montreal's LumiPure Inc. announces the beginning of a long-term agreement with illumiPure Corp. for the distribution of their sophisticated LED lighting products within Canada. This partnership will make it possible for businesses and consumers alike to gain access to Illumipure's advanced LED technology within the Canadian market.

According to media reports, Huawei, OPPO and Xiaomi are worried about insufficient OLED panel production, so they plan to use Mini LED-lit LCD displays for their smartphones in 2H18. Despite the fact that this rumor is not confirmed yet, the LED supply chain already pins its hope on Mini LED.

Optovate has revealed further details of its innovative micro-LED technology, following its first technology announcement in March 2018. Optovate has since 2008 been developing catadioptric micro-optic arrays to enhance the benefits of micro-LED, mini-LED and OLED displays and also a patterned laser lift-off (p-LLO) micro-LED transfer process.

From KNX to DALI, from high power to flicker free LED drivers, you name it, we have it. At the cutting-edge lighting and building automation show Light + Building (L+B) 2018, MEAN WELL presented versatile power solutions addressing various market sectors and technology trends.

According to the latest report, 2Q18 Micro LED Next-Generation Display Technology Market Report- Micro Projection AR & VR Market Trend and Analysis, from LEDinside, a division of the market research firm TrendForce, LEDinside analyzes the light sources of micro projection. Since Micro LED has high brightness and is power-saving, it can produce miniature module. After Micro LED technology becomes mature, it will be the new mainstream for display technology.

In addition to our witness of the raid at Light and Building 2018, LEDinside also learnt a low-key move from Epistar, who according to sources had reached out to dozens of exhibitors on-site regarding Epistar’s intellectual property rights.