German-based lighting manufacturer OSRAM has agreed to sell its lamp business unit LEDVANCE to a Chinese consortium that is led by IDG Capital Partners and includes LED manufacturer MLS and Yiwu State-Owned Assets Operation Center. The sale was announced on July 26 and represents a landmark deal in which Chinese LED manufacturer successfully acquires an oversea target with the help of an international investment group. “The sale of LEDVANCE shows major international lighting companies are exiting the LED lighting business due to its unprofitable outlook,” said Roger Chu, research director of LEDinside, a division of TrendForce. “On the other hand, Chinese LED lighting companies have an overall cost advantage and are assisted by the government, so they can take this opportunity to expand their market shares.” 

Osram announced Wednesday that a Chinese investment consortium headed by IDG that comprised of  MLS, and Yiwu State-Owned Assets Operation Center (Yiwu) acquired the German manufacturer’s general lighting business Ledvance for EUR 400 million (US $439.58 million).

Authorities in the Haryana state located in Northern India have made LED bulbs mandatory for all central and state government offices, public sector agencies, institutions and establishments to use LED lamps, reported The Economic Times.

LG Display, the world’s leading innovator of display technologies, announced today that it will invest KRW1.99 trillion (US $1.78 million) in a new 6th generation (1,500mm x 1,850mm) flexible OLED display production line in Paju, South Korea, as part of its preemptive efforts to change and lead the approaching era of flexible OLED screens for mobile devices.

Future-forward LED firm Lighting Science today announced the recent appointment of veteran marketing executive Laura Calenda to the newly-created role of senior vice president of marketing. In this capacity, Calenda will partner with senior leadership to develop and implement national marketing strategy designed to expand its brand presence and educate consumers on its differentiated lighting solutions.

OSRAM agreed to security testing on existing LIGHTIFY products by Security researchers from RAPID7. Since being notified about the vulnerabilities identified by Rapid7, OSRAM has taken actions to analyze, validate and implement a risk-based remediation strategy, and the majority of vulnerabilities will be patched in the next version update, currently planned for release in August.

Hubbell Lighting, announced that it has opened a new regional distribution center in Dallas, Texas, in an effort to support an increase in market demand for its products. It will occupy a portion of CEVA Logistics’ 37,161 meters (400,000 square foot) facility in the Grapevine area of Dallas Fort-Worth.

Gina Balestin, Senior Corporate Marketing Manager at Bridgelux, shares in this blog entry the importance of LED color temperature.

Continuing the expansion of the MeshTek(™) Bluetooth mesh ecosystem, ilumi solutions  announces the shipment of the MeshTek Bluetooth LE modules and lighting controllers to enable a new generation of connected products ranging from smoke alarms to designer lighting. The Mark Cuban-backed and Shark Tank-funded ilumi is offering both standard and high range Bluetooth LE modules that are about the size of a penny and can be inexpensively integrated into nearly any traditional consumer or commercial electronic products for award winning Bluetooth Mesh IoT functionality.

California LightWorks, announced SolarSystem, a new cost effective line of smart spectrum grow lights. By leveraging the latest advances in solid state LED lighting and control technology, SolarSystem delivers an optimized light spectrum based on the type of plant and phase of growth. This results in lower energy costs, better yields and faster returns on investment.

Auckson Opto (the company), recently announced the reason behind its suspended trade on the Chinese bourse since July 20, 2016, according to a report from China Securities Journal.

Osram announced Tuesday the sale of its general lighting lamp business, LEDVANCE, to a Chinese investment consortium headed by strategic investor IDG for EUR 400 million (US $439.58 million), Chinese leading LED package manufacturer MLS was named among a key member of the consortium, as well as financial investor Yiwu.

In the third quarter of fiscal 2016, Osram continued to see healthy demand in its three strategic core businesses and additionally benefited from pull-forward effects related to the carve-out of the lamps business. On a comparable basis, i.e. adjusted for portfolio and currency effects, revenue in the three months ending June 30 rose eleven percent from a year earlier and reached EUR 1.44 billion (US $). 

Heliospectra, a world leader in intelligent lighting technology for controlled environments horticulture, is pleased to announce that Green Leaf, a recently licensed cannabis cultivation facility in Alaska, selected the Heliospectra LED lighting system. Green Leaf owner-operator Aaron Bean chose the Heliospectra LED-based solution after determining that it is the only product in the marketplace with the power and versatility to support every stage of the cannabis growth cycle.

Viribright Lighting announced that is has received a US Patent (US 9,379,300) for the design of an LED chip welded in a flip-chip manner on a floating copper heat radiation support. The Viribright LED packaging design generates more lumens per watt with better control of heat dissipation than previous LED manufacturing methods.

Lumileds, the global leader in light engine technology, announced LUXEON LEDs with AtmoSphere Technology, which can be used to create the ideal ambiance for restaurants and other hospitality venues, making customers feel cozy, comfortable and relaxed. Halogen lighting had long dominated restaurant, bar and other hospitality lighting due to its ultra warm light capability—even while LEDs offered a 70-80% energy savings versus halogen. “Standard LEDs do not offer the optimal replacement for halogen in restaurant environments, but Atmosphere Technology from the LUXEON Stylist Series does,” said Luis Aceña, Senior Manager, Stylist Series at Lumileds.

Cree introduces the new Cree® HXB Series LED High Bay Luminaire, the first of its kind to operate in extreme ambient temperatures spanning -40F to +149F and delivering 70,000 lumens at up to 140 lumens per watt (LPW). The industry-leading luminaire can be mounted at heights of 30 feet and higher, and comes with optical options including flood and aisle distributions. The HXB High Bay Series brings Cree technology to new applications such as cold-storage spaces with sub-zero temperatures and high-heat climates like warehouses and airplane hangars.

On July 21, the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) held a Forum and an Innovation Exhibition at the VDNH (the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy) in Moscow.  One of the largest expositions at the show was that of Monocrystal’s, which demonstrated sapphire epi-polished wafers for LEDs, sapphire screens for smartphones, and metallization pastes for solar cell manufacturing. 

Chinese consortium consisting of the strategic investor IDG, the Chinese lighting company MLS and the financial investor Yiwu acquire Osram’s business unit Lamps for more than €400 million

The first half of 2016 has flown by quickly, with the LED industry entering a mature phase and stabilizing growth rates, it is gradually losing its liveliness. Looking back to the first half of 2016, new terms emerged among the tide of acquisitions and price wars. The keywords can be summarized as five large niche lighting markets, four key markets, three competitive technologies, changes in two major products market positions, and one new technology term.

India’s Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) issued a warning to consumers to be cautious about websites claiming to sell 9W LED bulbs for less than INR 1 (US $0.02), reported The Times of India.

Nanoco Group, a world leader in the development and manufacture of cadmium-free quantum dots and other nanomaterials, and Wah Hong Industrial Corporation (TPEx: 8240, "Wah Hong"), a leading Taiwanese manufacturer and supplier of optical films, jointly announce that they have signed a supply and licence agreement in the display sector.

Philips Lighting announced the appointment of Stéphane Rougeot as Chief Financial Officer, effective September 1, 2016. Rougeot succeeds Rene van Schooten Business Group Leader Lamps, who in addition to his current role held the position on an interim basis for nine months.

Today’s high-speed wired communication networks use lasers to carry information through optical fibers, but wireless networks are currently based on radiofrequencies or microwaves. In an advance that could one day make light-based wireless communications ubiquitous, researchers from Facebook Connectivity Lab have demonstrated a conceptually new approach for detecting optical communication signals traveling through the air.

As the post-mobile era takes shape, we are beginning to see smart calling and imaging devices increasingly interconnected and even remotely controlled. The list of connected devices continues to grow – including everything from smartphones, wearable devices and information-focused consumer electronics, to electronics that are embracing the Internet of Things like smart home appliances and security monitoring systems.

Power management company Eaton announced a collaboration with NuLEDs™ a leader in Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) lighting systems, aimed at making buildings smarter and seamlessly securely connected. The two companies will go to market with a joint product offering including Eaton’s complete portfolio of PoE-enabled LED luminaires and NuLEDs’ drivers, software, sensors and keypads.

Delivering exceptional energy efficiency in a lightweight design that easily mounts to existing poles, MaxLite presents the ARX Series LED X-Large Area Light as the perfect 1000-watt retrofit solution for parking lots, campuses, automotive dealerships and large retail locations.

Fairchild a leading global supplier of high-performance semiconductor solutions, today enhanced its industry-leading GreenBridge™ active bridge quad MOSFET technology with FDMQ8205, the first member of its next-generation GreenBridge series for applications that receive power via Power Over Ethernet (POE), such as security cameras, wireless access points, LED lighting and other Powered Devices (PD).  Designers can lower operating temperature, increase efficiency and reduce the solution size of their devices by taking advantage of the GreenBridge solution’s best-in-class Rdson performance, extremely small form factor and superior thermal performance.

Philips reports Q2 sales of EUR 5.9 billion (US $6.49 billion) and comparable sales growth of 3%, a 9% improvement in Adjusted EBITA to EUR 544 million and net income of EUR 431 million

Ivan-Christophe Robin, Strategic Marketing Manager at Leti, spoke to LEDinside recently about the French research institute’s outlook for micro-LEDs in various end-market applications, especially the wearable sector.