LEDinside team would like to wish our readers an early Happy New Year. Our team will take a break in the following two days. This week, we have finally wrapped up our recap for 2014 with “LED Lighting’s Low Price Trends,” and there is a new article in our Russian feature section covering local leading distributor Rainbow’s perspective of the market.

“Every year there are escaping manufacturers, but this has become an ongoing trend in 2014,” is a common saying in China’s lighting industry. This is related to the easing domestic economic market, and slowdown in the real estate market leading to diminishing construction projects, said industry insiders. The LED industry is in a rapidly expanding phase, and all these indicate “winter is coming” in the LED lighting industry. However, not all manufacturers are capable of defending themselves against the “cold” and some have resorted to “selfish” measures.

Nationstar’s Vice Chairmen Yao Hao Wang and Binhai Yu sold 11.55 million company shares, or equivalent to 2.68% company stock shares from Dec. 29-30, 2014, according to a report by Quanjing.com.

Listed Taiwanese LED manufacturer FOREPI and Epistar completed official integration on Dec. 30, 2014, according to an UDN report. FOREPI has become a subsidiary under Epistar, and after an interim shareholder meeting in September, FOREPI will complete integration during 1Q15. After being absorbed by Epistar, FOREPI is expected to profit in 2015.

Foxconn might start small scale OLED production in 2016, according to a Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun report.

India Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ESCO Company to upgrade 70,000 or one third of its 197,000 traditional road lights to LED lights, according to a report from the Hindustan Times.

One of the largest lighting events in northeastern Kanagawa Prefecture, about a one to two hour train ride from Tokyo, Japan, has added a new sparkling LED palace to its display, according to a Japan.com entry.

A colorful year-end party show will kick off at night on December 31 in Taitung County, Taiwan. Taitung County governor Justin Huang welcomes visitors to join local residents to usher in 2015 together.

As president of the Michigan based, Straits Lighting, Ricky Singh has always had a clear and bright vision - so much so that Singh was honored to have been distinguished as one of Crain's Detroit's 40 under 40 for the 2014 class.

The LEDWizard controller brings amazing lighting control right to any smartphone or tablet device and is perfect for controlling the lights in different rooms, and even on indoors and outdoor lighting systems without the hassle of requiring more remotes

Upstream Taiwanese LED chip manufacturers including Epistar and leading downstream LED manufacturers Everlight and Lextar were upbeat about the industry’s growth in 2015, with most forecasting at least 20% growth, reported UDN.

Foshan Lighting announced it signed a RMB 400 million (US $64.24 million) agreement with a distributor, according to a company announcement on Monday.

Global LED package market is estimated to achieve US $14.6 billion in 2014, and grows at a CAGR of 3.2% during 2014-2018. Among all LED applications, LED lighting has the highest estimated revenue of US $4.8 billion in 2014, soaring with a CAGR of 12%. These figures suggest that LED lighting market has entered a high growth phase. Nevertheless, the prices of LED lighting products, such as lighting bulbs and tubes show a steady downfall trend.

Another challenging year awaits Taiwanese manufacturers as major Chinese LED chip manufacturer San’an Opto acquires a total of 100 MOCVD reactors in September and December and have said that the company will continue to headhunt Taiwanese experts, according to a report of China Times.

In this interview for the Russian feature, LEDinside spoke to Vadim Smirnov, General Manager, Lighting Division, Rainbow Electronics, who spoke to LEDinside about local LED component sales, and gave an in depth market analysis of Russia’s lighting component retail.

Impact from LED blue lights on the health of eyes remains a field that requires close study, but there still some measures that heavy screen users can adapt to save their eyesight, according to a recent Financial Times report.

Revolution Lighting Technologies, a global provider of advanced LED lighting solutions, announced today that it has entered into a strategic distribution partnership with the Fastenal Company. Fastenal is one of the largest MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Operations) suppliers. Under the terms, through its U.S. stores and distribution centers, Fastenal will stock and make available a variety of Revolution Lighting Technologies’ LED products.

Early in 2014, the Museum of London sought a lighting scheme for their new gallery, built to house the London 2012 Olympic Cauldron.

The Madison Square Garden Company (MSG) has added a dynamic exterior LED lighting system to The World's Most Famous Arena from Philips, the world leader in lighting. The state-of-the-art, connected LED lighting system can reflect the home teams’ colors and highlight special events by creating dynamic visual effects on the façade of the Arena. The lighting communicates which home teams’ games or events are taking place at the The Garden and helps create a sense of excitement in the surrounding area.

Fourth paragraph, last sentence of release dated Oct. 28, 2014, should read: For the Brunswick Landing project, Pemco partnered with Enterprise Electric, MCO Engineering and Swiftcurrent Engineering to design, implement and maintain the installation (instead of xxx RJM Engineering and Swiftcurrent Engineering to design, implement and maintain the installation)

TERRALUX revolutionary D Series LED retrofit kits have received ENERGY STAR® Certification. Buildings can also take advantage of utility rebate programs to offset the initial investment.

Leading Taiwanese LED chip manufacturer Epistar is planning another merger to complete its white LED portfolio, according to a Chinese-language report by China Times.

Energy efficiency is becoming increasingly important in an energy-strapped world, according to a Dazhaoming.com report. LEDs are being recognized as the next generation green lights for its advantages in energy efficiency, environmental friendliness and long lifetimes. Countries are increasingly focused on the LED lighting industry, with many countries launching related regulations or standards.

The holiday season is a time when many homes feature a sparkling Christmas tree decked with ornaments filled underneath with presents and more decorations.

Honolulu and the Canadian city of Calgary are reported to replace sodium-vapor streetlights with energy saving LEDs, according to a news report by HNGN.

Hanover plans to install 700 LED streetlights by late Spring with a spending of US $365,000, according to a report of Bayshore Broadcast.

The new LED lighting sees South Shields Town Hall bathed in a white glow or can be lit up to celebrate occasions such as Christmas.

Indian consumer electronics manufacturer BPL plans to expand its LED product portfolio, after starting in the industry with solar LED lanterns a year ago, according to a report by The Economic Times.

By automatically turning on full brightness with the detection of a car or human being, the new generation Infrared Sensor LED Tube is the ideal replacement for fluorescent tubes in parking lots and garages.

Hipower recently rebutted a local Chinese-language magazine report claiming the company’s CEO went missing, due to its financial crisis.