The LED industry main logic is driven by general lighting. Compared to previous waves driven by LED backlight and commercial lighting, general lighting is a market with a real value of more than RMB 100 billion (US$ 16.81 billion). It is estimated by 2014 the global civilian lighting market will reach more than RMB 100 billion for the first time, and reach RMB 160 billion in 2015. Within the next two years, CAGR will reach 60 percent taking the LED industry to its new hot spot.

“The National Lighting Bureau has once again performed yeoman service for North America’s lighting community.” So said National Lighting Bureau Chair Howard P. Lewis (Viscor Group of Companies) in reviewing the Bureau’s 2013 accomplishments at the conclusion of his fourth year in office. The Bureau serves as an independent, IRS-recognized not-for-profit lighting-information source created (in 1976) to help people make better decisions about lighting.

LED lighting over the next 3-5 years will experience rapid development. Whoever gains access to distribution channels will ultimately win the market as they are the key recourse for LED lighting application. Channels and brand name still remains as the main barrier for lighting applications. Brands with control over export markets will be in an active position. Lighting manufacturers employ different channel strategies depending on the market segments and client demands. High quality distribution channels are conducive towards manufactures that have a controlled accounts receivable turnover ratio and can avoid producing bad debts, as this can increase company revenue and profits.

In 1973 the marketing guru, Philip Kotler stated that noise, shapes, smells and colours helped to draw attention, transmit messages and create feelings that increased the likelihood of purchase. Since then, marketing has moved on in all senses and the reproduction of colour has become a key differentiating factor in the retail sector. In sensorial marketing, light is one of the most important factors in the purchase experience.

In response to Nichia Corporation’s (Nichia) press release regarding the order entered by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Everlight notes that the order referenced in Nichia’s press release relates to discovery disputes and is not a substantive ruling on the merits of any of Everlight’s claims or defenses.  The orders are not related to the merits of patent infringement or validity and therefore have no effect on Everlight’s products.  Also, Everlight have produced relevant LED list and samples in compliance with the Court’s Order.

Retail price for LED bulbs is substantially higher than that of incandescent. LED bulbs can last anywhere from 15,000 hours up to 25,000 hours. EU standards have relaxed recently, dropping the minimum hours to 6,000. In a recent test by a UK consumer group Which?, they discovered that most LED bulbs on the market do not live up to the promised lifespan by manufacturers.

“The fourth quarter of 2013 was another good quarter for Philips, despite the challenging economic environment and ongoing currency headwinds. In the quarter, Lighting and Consumer Lifestyle both delivered strong comparable sales growth of 8%. At Healthcare, comparable sales increased by 4%, while order intake declined 1% as a result of weak markets in US and Europe. The operational profitability of all sectors improved substantially, driven by good sales growth, gross margin expansion of 2 percentage points and the productivity gains, all coming from the Accelerate! program.

Cree is redefining commercial lighting with the ZR Series LED troffer, delivering a new category of performance, affordability and inspired design. Featuring Cree TrueWhite® Technology, the ZR Series LED troffer delivers superior color quality (> 90 CRI) in an ultra-slim, sleek package at a remarkable initial price of US$ 99.* The ZR Series LED troffer cuts energy consumption in half, and with standard 0–10V dimming can accelerate its already rapid two-year payback.** 

It’s really impressive to see how creative artists are using technology and lighting to transform environments into captivating surroundings and how cities are emerging from the shadows and standing proudly. A few weeks ago, at the Québec City Lights Festival, (Festival des Lumières de Québec) some playful light shows made quite an impression on the public by lighting up the Old Capital and allowing its Nordic appeal and historic architecture to stand out.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a world leader in advanced component solutions, announced today that it has raised the light efficacy for its chip-on-board (COB) family of LED packages to the highest in the industry. Samsung’s LC013B, LC026B and LC040B feature a compact light emitting surface (LES) with high light output that is designed for use in high performance LED products.

Ringdale®, Inc., Texas-based manufacturer of USA-made ActiveLED® luminaries, announces continued growth in its retrofit line with the launch of in-ground ActiveLED lighting. The 18-watt ActiveLED In-Ground replaces 150-watt HID 9.5" and 13" in-ground lighting fixtures. The in-ground retrofit is ideal for illuminating flagpoles, art, monuments, landscaping, and walkways. ActiveLED's In-Ground lighting delivers energy savings of up to 90% when compared to HID lighting and includes an unmatched 10-Year No Light Loss Warranty.

The working light body itself is only 660g. With its diverse accessories, it can be applied to many situations that you can imagine. So it also can be defined as Multi-Purpose Lighting or Lighting Tool. Also, it is IP65 rated, and made in Taiwan. The main feature includes:

LED driver IC is unsurprisingly the upcoming star of 2014, spurred by the increasing demand for LED general lighting. However, the driver IC market appears to commoditize rapidly with competition from China vendors. According to a recent report by Morgan Stanley, LED general lighting penetration rate is estimated to reach 17% in 2014, up from 8% in 2013. LED lighting penetration rate is anticipated continue rising to 44 percent by 2016. Each light needs an LED driver IC to control the electric current and, in some cases, offer dimming function. The volume for LED driver ICs will thus grow proportionally with LED lighting.

In 2009, India began a plan of replacing 4 million inefficient incandescent bulbs with CFL by 2012. By 2013 Indian states including Tamil Nadu announced plans of replacing some 200,000 fluorescent tube lights with LEDs. Philips and Panasonic active involvement in the Indian market in late 2013 and Jan 2014 are also indicators of LED market potential. LEDinside editorial team had a chance to recently interview Deepak Loomba, Managing Director and CEO of De Core Nanosemiconductors Ltd., who shares some interesting insights on the LED market developments in India. 

In order to provide comprehensive sales service and enhance the capacity utilization of PLCC, the Taiwanese LED manufacturer, Edison Opto, initiates to combine ANSI BIN group with the concept of MacAdam ellipse and subdivide the color temperature into 9 subgroups. The new BIN group is conducive to inventory management. Also, the packaging sales service which is provided by Edison Opto is more convenient to customers’ product selection.  

Veeco Instruments announced that McGill University in Montréal, Québec, Canada has ordered Veeco’s new GENxplor™ R&D Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) System for their Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, as part of a research grant from Canada’s Foundation for Innovation.  The Veeco GENxplor is a fully integrated system that deposits high quality epitaxial layers on substrates up to 3” in diameter and is ideal for cutting edge compound semiconductor research on a wide variety of materials including arsenides, nitrides and oxides.

Soitec Lighting, a division of Soitec (Euronext) serving the commercial, industrial and institutional sectors by selling efficient LED lighting solutions, has unveiled its new T8 LED tube product family for the North American market. This line of solid-state replacement products for fluorescent T8 tubes compliments Soitec’s existing European tube series. With illuminating power above 110 lumens per watt in neutral white (4,000 degrees K), resulting in energy savings of more than 60 percent compared to fluorescent tubes, Soitec’s LED tube is a highly efficient LED lighting solution.

Fairchild Semiconductor a global supplier of power semiconductors, today announced results for the fourth quarter and full year 2013 ended December 29, 2013.  Fairchild reported fourth quarter sales of $341.1 million, down 6 percent from the prior quarter and up 2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012.

Municipalities can benefit from reduced energy and more efficient management of street lights through GE’s new LightGrid™ Outdoor Wireless Control System.

Japanese technology has always been under the global spotlight and recognized as a worldwide trend indicator. LEDinside observed flip chip LED and EMC will become the major development trend this year among manufacturers display and release of related equipment and material at Lighting Japan 2014, which took place at Tokyo Big Sight earlier this month. Below is LEDinside observations and trend analysis while interviewing equipment, material, and package manufacturers at the trade show:

RGB package technology continues to advance. As LED package components shrink, display dimensions follow suit, gradually reducing in size. This as well as improvements to driver IC and backend system technology is driving up display resolution and color performance. Technological improvements and increased demand for displays used in outdoor commercial, public buildings, and indoor commercial spaces is anticipated to drive up the display replacement trend in 2014. Industry insiders are optimistic about the development of the display market for 2014.

Ya-Hui Cheng is a lighting designer from Taiwan and works for The Flaming Beacon (TFB) in Australia. She holds an undergraduate degree in Interior Design from Chung Yuan Christian University of Taiwan and a Master’s Degree in Lighting Design (MALD) from Hochschule Wismar in Germany. She is currently a design member of the IALD and the PLDA.

December total revenue for Taiwanese market listed LED manufacturers dipped 0.1% to NT $10.6 billion (US $350.7 million). Revenue for Taiwanese LED chip manufacturers reached NT $3.98 billion (+0.8% MoM) and NT %6.67 billion for Taiwanese package manufacturers, a slight decline of 0.9% MoM.

On December 20, 2013, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan granted four separate Motions that Nichia brought against Everlight for deficiencies in the discovery provided by Everlight in the ongoing patent infringement litigation involving YAG phosphors to create white LEDs.*1

University of California, San Diego electrical engineering professor Zhaowei Liu and colleagues have taken the first steps in a project to develop fast-blinking LED systems for underwater optical communications. 

If you want to surround yourself with the most innovative minds in the phosphor and quantum dots industry you need to book your spot soon! Save on your registration to Phosphor Global Summit and the Quantum Dots Forum if you book by January 31, 2014. Quantum Dots will feature presentations by Canaccord Genuity, Pacific Light Technologies, Dow Chemical, NanoPhotonica, University of Washington, the EPA, Nanosys, and many more.

Philips, the global leader in lighting has today unveiled a stunning lighting makeover of the historic, world-recognized Gateway of India in Mumbai. The lighting is based around a new, one-of-a-kind LED system, providing a palette of 16 million colors that can be computer-programmed to create inspiring lighting shows.

MEW is an injection and molding equipment manufacturer in South Korea, having accessed to the market for over 25 years. From the market demands for BMC and mobile phone application such as Crystal EMC (Sensor Wiring Bonding) and Black EMC (fingerprint recognition for mobile phones), to LED industry's increasingly stringent demands for high-power LEDs (in order to meet LED terminal market cost performance), all of which drove EMC products market demand. LEDinside is honored to interview MEW CEO.

LEDinside Editorial team wraps up on Lighting Japan 2014. Our team spoke to Philips during the show about the OLED market situation in Japan and Hue bulbs sales and positioning in the industry. Other notable events this week, has been Cree’s new financial report for 2Q14. In other fields, rumors of Foxconn’s sample production of sapphire substrate cover iPhones have begun. For further details please see below:

Cree’s has won over investor’s support as its recently published 2Q14 financial report reflected good financial performance. Cree’s stock prices were up 7.7 percent to US$ 67.33, and accumulated growth from the last 12 months was 65 percent. Due to the company’s soaring growth in the LED lighting field, the company’s income and profits have been maintained at higher levels, which in turn alleviated investors concerns of profit pressure.