Philips decision to spin-off Philips Lumileds, automotive lighting and later lighting business in mid-2014 was mainly caused by emergence of Chinese LED manufacturers, and rapid market changes, said Roger Chu, Research Director of LEDinside at LEDforum 2014 held in Taipei, Taiwan on Oct. 24, 2014.

The LED packaging industry’s value is anticipated to only rise an estimated 3.2% on-year in 2015, from this year's US$14.6 billion to US$15 billion, according to the latest “Global LED package Industry Report” released by LEDinside, a division of Taiwan based market intelligence firm TrendForce. “With growth in the LED package market slowing and competitive pressure coming from China, the LED industry will face some major challenges next year,” said Roger Chu, research director at LEDinside. 

Cree, a market leader in LED lighting, today announced revenue of US $427.7 million for its first quarter of fiscal 2015, ended September 28, 2014. This represents a 9% increase compared to revenue of $391.0 million reported for the first quarter of fiscal 2014. GAAP net income for the first quarter was $11.1 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, a decrease of 64% year-over-year compared to GAAP net income of $30.5 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, for the first quarter of fiscal 2014. 

Albeit smart LED bulbs rising popularity among LED manufacturers, for the time being these are still novelty products that only adventurous consumers with enough patience in sorting out the set up will try out, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Have you read Malcolm Gladwell’s longtime-bestseller The Tipping Point? In it, the author discusses the phenomenon where something goes from being marginal to mainstream. For LED (light-emitting diode) lighting, the tipping point has arrived. U.S. Department of Energy statistics show that about 49 million LEDs were installed in the U.S. in 2012 — saving about US $675 million in annual energy costs. And, switching entirely to LED lights over the next two decades could save the US $250 billion in energy costs, reduce electricity consumption for lighting by nearly 50 percent and avoid 1,800 million metric tons of carbon emissions.

The residential LED lighting market will grow at a 30% clip from 2014-2016, according to LEDinside, a subsidiary of the Taiwan-based market intelligence firm TrendForce.

The LED package market value reached US $13 billion in 2013, in which LEDs for TV backlight amounted to 20 percent, according to LEDinside’s latest “LED Residential Lighting and Backlight Market Trend” report. LED backlighting have almost completely replaced all CCFL light sources in TV backlight, however, with market penetration rates reaching a pinnacle the market faces threats of market saturation. Below are five major trends in the LED backlighting market:

The sapphire industry has seen completely different outcomes among application markets this year, according to a recent United Daily News (UDN) report.

IDTechEx forecasts that the market for plastic and flexible OLED displays will rise to US $16 billion by 2020. This is one of the conclusions highlighted in their latest report OLED Display Forecasts 2014-2024: The Rise of Plastic and Flexible Displays. The new market research report includes detailed 10-year forecast by market segments, but also by display type (AMOLED, PMOLED, etc.). 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s CALiPER program has released a Snapshot Report on LED outdoor area lighting. Based on LED Lighting Facts® data through the second quarter of 2014, the report focuses on outdoor area/roadway luminaires, parking garage luminaires, canopy luminaires, and outdoor directional luminaires. As of July 1, 2014, area/roadway products alone comprised 23 percent of the LED Lighting Facts database, with the other three product categories comprising approximately 7 percent.

The Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition has once again provided an impressive demonstration of the growth of Asia’s lighting and LED market as well as the growing significance of the region to the international lighting community, reconfirming its role as the most influential lighting and LED event in Asia. In total, 2,621 brands (2013: 2,588) from 25 countries and regions exhibited this year, utilising a record-breaking 21 halls across 225,000 sqm of space.

Whenever innovative technologies emerge, speculators often will sail with the wind and urge for the technology’s advancement. They will also start listing the old technology’s flaws. In reality, there is nothing definite in new and old technology. By using innovative technologies for reference, old technologies can further advance, while immature new technologies might meet an early demise.

LED EPI wafer and chip manufacturer Genesis Photonics Inc. (GPI) Chairman David Chung upheld a positive outlook for the flip chip industry at a company shareholders meeting on June 18, 2014.

Taiwanese LED lighting manufacturer Lextar revenue will grow steadily in second half of 2014, as the company benefits from international manufacturers rising lighting OEM orders and new LED TV backlight clients that is alleviating the risks of relying on orders from a single client, according to a Money DJ report.

The merger between LED chip manufacturer Epistar and FOREPI has generated much discussion in the industry. Industry insiders have different views on the trend of large LED upstream manufacturers dominating the market. While foreign investment firms are optimistic the merger will create a win-win situation for Epistar and FOREPI, other market insiders are concerned it will have a negative impact on downstream manufacturers.

The growing smart home industry and intensifying competition has created new market situations, according to a Chinese language media CBN.com report. Apple has released its first smart home management App HomeKit at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in early June this year. The company is developing partnerships with numerous top lighting manufacturers on the smart home project.

This China-LED. Org report gives a comprehensive overview of policy developments in China and the impact these subsidies are having on the industry as a whole. The subsidies drive industry developments, but oversupply is still a big problem. Similar to earlier Chinese reports LEDinside have translated, this one also highlights lack of industry standards hinders industry development.

Optic inspection is still the mainstream wafer defect detection method in the inspection and metrology field, while E-beam will continue to be a niche market, said KLA-Tencor Chief Marketing Officer Brian Trafas during the opening ceremony of the new training facility held at the company’s Hsinchu branch on May 23, 2014.

Lighting manufacturer Precision-Paragon [P2] announced that in the past three years, the cost difference between LED and fluorescent lighting has shrunk dramatically, thanks to substantial reductions in the cost of LED technology. 

Whether walking on the streets or driving around the city, people are surrounded by outdoor LED displays. They are known as the fourth type of screen, after TVs, computers, and mobile phones. So what do outdoor LED displays mean for city dwellers?

The earthquake that shook Japan in 2011 drove up LED bulb market demand. Unlike other countries, Japan first developed LED lighting in the residential market which substantially increased market demand as a whole. The lighting market continued expanding LED products in 2013, targeting indoor lighting including residential and commercial lighting, and launching tube lighting, panel lighting and ceiling lamps. LEDinside continues to observe commercial lighting market developments in 2014. As commercial lighting continues to expand, tube, panel, and niche market candle lighting are gradually maturing.

Sapphire substrates have been around for a very long time. First chemically synthesized by French chemist Auguste Verneuil in 1909, sapphire has developed from fake jewelry in 1940s, SOS applications in 1960s, to military applications in late 1960s, according to a paper by Daniel Harris, Naval Air Systems Command, China Lake, California. U.S. and Russian manufacturers dominated military application fields before Asian manufacturers found their golden opportunity in LED applications.