The LED lighting industry has seen a paradigm shift, propelled by the exponential urban expansion expected over the next decade and the drive towards ever bigger energy efficiency.

As time is moving forward to the second quarter of 2018, more and more rumblings and updates about Micro/Mini LED emerged and have been circulating in the industry. In February, LEDinside collected and revealed information of Micro LED development from nearly 50 companies around the globe. Here, we would like to share some progress updates released after that from 10 companies.

According to the latest report of LEDinside, a division of TrendForce, while conventional LED components are used for backlight, Micro LED and Mini LED technology have been gradually used for self-emitting in displays of consumer electronics. Every LED will then stand for a pixel, increasing the number of LED wafers used.

Osram is taking the next step in its development of intelligent plant growth solutions by acquiring Fluence Bioengineering, Inc. of Austin, Texas. Fluence specializes in LED-based horticultural systems, using Osram LED chips, for a wide variety of applications including vertical farming, especially in urban areas. Potential crops range from salad greens and herbs to medicinal plants. Osram and Fluence have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

As buildings become increasingly more connected through the Internet of Things (IoT), owners and operators require an intuitive platform for their building intelligence solutions. To meet this need, Cree is expanding its SmartCast Intelligence Platform™ to include connected wireless capabilities that enable smart building solutions, such as building automation and control network (BACnet) connectivity, advanced lighting control, and building analytics.

According to the latest report from LEDinside, a division of the market research firm TrendForce, LEDinside TV and Gaming Display Market Trend of 2018, backlight and self-emissive display technology will compete together in the near future.

After the launch of constant power output LED Driver~ LDC-35/55/80(35W/55W/80W) with 3 in 1 dimming function and design, MEAN WELL now releases the ones with DALI control technology to satisfy the application needs of LED Troffer /Trunking and Linear lighting market.

General LED Holdings, LLC (“General LED”) announced it completed the acquisition of the Acolyte Group (“Acolyte”), a New York based provider of fully-integrated LED lighting systems. Acolyte offers ribbon lighting and other architectural lighting products for a variety of indoor and outdoor applications.

LEDVANCE is showing at LIGHTFAIR® International (LFI®) how its “Passion for Lighting” and commitment to distribution make it the best retrofit partner for LED luminaires and lamps, and ultimately deliver quality SYLVANIA LED luminaire and lamp portfolios, including smart lighting, for any purpose, commercial and residential. LFI, the world’s largest annual architectural and commercial lighting trade show and conference, takes place May 8 – 10, 2018 in Chicago.

The Zigbee Alliance has opened certification for its updated Smart Energy 1.4 application standard. This new Certification Program addresses the functionality needs that arose from Great Britain’s decision to mandate all energy suppliers to offer smart meters to every home by 2020 (a total of 26 million potential installations).

With the development of display technology, the panel industry will no longer only focus on the supply and demand. Instead, more emphasis has been placed on the quality and specs upgrade of panels in order to increase the value of display products. This trend has motivated the display panel makers towards better specs, such as high resolution, curved, ultra-thin, lightweight, bendable, high dynamic HDR, high contrast, and wide color gamut. In this way, the displays will be able to present more natural colors and vivid image.

In recent year, Mini LED has undoubtedly emerged as a new sector where LED companies and panel vendors actively enter. The reason is that the traditional LED backlight has been developing for many years, reaching a bottleneck in technology; the profit is relatively low as well. Meanwhile, OLED displays, which feature thinness and flexibility, are invading into the backlight display market. As the result, manufacturers that do not worked on OLED displays have turned to the development of Mini LED, a new product that is highly competitive in terms of function and cost.

The ninth annual Taiwan International Lighting Show (TILS 2018) opened with much fanfare in Hall 1 of Taipei World Trade Center on 25 April. This year’s show has gathered 114 exhibitors and featured 420 display booths showcasing technologies under the categories of LED general lighting and smart lighting.

Osram has added to its expertise in semiconductor-based optical security technology by acquiring US-based Vixar Inc. Already a technology leader in infrared LEDs and infrared laser diodes, Osram will have a unique breadth of technological expertise and an expanded product portfolio after bringing on board Vixar’s specialist capabilities in the field of VCSEL.

“The first half of the fiscal year was challenging due to various factors. However, the long-term growth trend remains intact, while the reorganization and the technological shift are continuing,” said Olaf Berlien, CEO of OSRAM Licht AG.

Upon the opening of the world's largest architectural and commercial lighting trade show, Altman Lighting will be at LIGHTFAIR 2018 in Booth 3922 inside McCormick Place on May 8-10, 2018. In preparation for their showcase of innovative architectural and commercial lighting solutions, Altman Lighting will be highlighting the power and performance capabilities of their Gallery LED series, Chalice LED downlights, and the popular Spectra Cyc wall wash family of LED luminaires.  

LensVector will change the scene at Lightfair International this May as luminaire manufacturers and control companies demonstrate breakthrough Dynamic Beam Shaping technology. The lens allows infinite beam adjustment along a continuum from a less-than-ten-degree narrow spot to a very wide flood and eliminates the need for dedicated spot or flood lamps in many applications. Retail and hospitality lighting in particular will benefit from the precision beams and dynamic dramatic effects.

Silvair announces that together with its partners it will be extending the range of lighting products supported by Silvair’s technology. An ecosystem of interoperable products unified by the Bluetooth mesh standard is, therefore, expanding to redefine the smart lighting experience in commercial spaces.

AIXTRON SE will deliver high-end MOCVD technology to long-standing customer Visual Photonics Epitaxy Co. Ltd. (VPEC). The Taiwanese semiconductor foundry, mainly specialized in solutions for wireless and optical device epi wafers, plans to ramp-up its epitaxy production with multiple AIX 2800G4 MOCVD cluster systems to meet the globally growing demand for various photonic and electronic applications.

Molex announced the expansion of its design portfolio of Molex PoE-Ready products, with the addition of Deco Lighting’s PoE-Ready Vector 2 LED light fixtures.

Philips Lighting announced the start of a program to repurchase up to 1.5 million of its own shares. Philips Lighting will use the shares to cover obligations arising from its long-term incentive performance share plan and other employee share plans.

Seoul Semiconductor on April 30 announced consolidated first-quarter revenues of Korean won (KrW) 283.0 billion (USD 263 million). The rise in consolidated revenue came from strong sales in general lighting, especially from the automotive lighting segment and strength across all application segments, with the IT division delivering high single digit growth YoY. The results fall within the company’s guided KrW 270 billion and KrW 290 billion for the quarter.

LG Innotek will start to target the global market in full-scale by holding a UV LED forum in China. It plans to accelerate the business expansion by closely cooperating with the local companies based on its world-leading technology.

With the increased demand for OLED based touchscreens, electronic manufactures are increasingly turning to UV LED curing solution providers for its many benefits in bonding applications for OLED flat panel manufacturing. Benefits to manufacturers include high productivity, environmentally safe and friendly, and a reliable solution to how these products are cured.

Revolution Lighting Technologies, Inc. announced the launch of the next generation of its industry-leading LED lighting solutions, making available six new lighting technologies to market.

Deco Lighting introduces DECO PoE (Power over Ethernet) integrated technology, debuting in the Vector interior architectural luminaire. DECO PoE, powered by the Molex’s NCS Network, will bring a newly-conceptualized system to commercial building spaces that provide easier installation and smarter building monitoring than static LED lighting fixtures.

Lumileds announced that its Matrix Platform light engines can achieve breakthrough lumen outputs and efficiencies, using its next generationIntegrated Light Guide Technology. The revolutionary Integrated Light Guide Technology provides non-pixelated illumination for visual comfort and the flexibility to select tailored light distribution patterns in the design of indoor and outdoor luminaires. 

Traxon Technologies, an OSRAM brand and global leader in dynamic lighting solutions, announced the launch of the ProPoint Wall Washer Series, Traxon’s most complete offering of products for wall wash and flood applications.

Projector-reflector solutions from Osram provide uniform lighting and minimum reflection in swimming pool halls. In such applications a projector emits a lumen package that is split via a deflection reflector back into the space to be illuminated without glare. With Floodlight 20 LED and Siteco Mirrortec reflectors, Osram Lighting Solutions offers a perfectly matched system that holds up to challenging ambient conditions, and also scores points with high levels of maintenance friendliness because the projectors can usually be mounted at easily accessible locations. 

Major Chinese LED package supplier MLS teams up with Taiwanese auto lamp manufacturers to develop automotive lighting. Targets of its early stage development are aftermarkets of rear lamp and turn signal in Taiwan.