Earlier this week, UV LED specialist RayVio’s CEO Robert Walker spoke to LEDinside about the company’s outlook for the UVC LED sector, and their current market strategy.

Construction of comprehensive optic fiber networks and maturing Internet technology are ushering innovative technology developments. LEDinside observed the emergence of more innovative technology products at CES Asia 2016, which took place in Shanghai, China recently. Growing number of products require the integration of IR sensor technologies, such as trending virtual reality (VR) headsets, or wearable fitness devices for measuring heart rates and pulse. IR sensor technology in man and machine interface is also playing an increasingly important role. 

In November 2015, Osram Opto Semiconductors (Osram Opto) announced general lighting will be an integral part of its long term strategic development plan, and that it would be investing EUR 1 billion (US$1.14 billion) in Malaysia to construct a 6-inch LED production site. The news surprised the entire LED industry. Recently, Osram Opto hosted a series of innovative SSL technology forums to unveil its new product line across Asia.

The LED display market preference in 2015 were small pitch LED displays, and high definition products. These products that have been under the industry spotlight last year continued to show strong growth this year, especially in China. Small pitch LED displays is gaining traction in other regional markets including Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe. Emerging markets, such as Middle East and South America where the 2016 Olympics will be hosted in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, also witnessed soaring growth for small pitch LED displays. To learn more about display technology advancements and trend analyses, LEDinside spoke to international and Taiwanese LED chip manufacturers and other related industry players.

LED Expo Thailand 2016 that took place from April 19-22, 2016 in Bangkok, Thailand is the largest LED exhibition held in southeast Asia. Compared to Singapore’s economic role as a hub, the Thailand-based LED exhibition emphasizes more on creating business and market expansion opportunities for local manufacturers and international ones. Buyers are mainly local Thai manufacturers, foreign investors that focus on Southeast Asian market. Along with quite a few buyers based in Vietnam and Singapore. Vietnam, at the same time, is also one of Taiwanese manufacturers’ targeting markets.

Prospects of a booming LED filament bulb market in 2016 and Super Trend Lighting’s unique market position and distribution channels, were some of the main reasons behind Forest Lighting’s latest acquisition, said Forest Lighting General Manager Lawrence Lin in an exclusive interview with LEDinside recently.

Observations of the global economic outlook for 2016 remains dim, with the economy expected to further decline. Despite the grim outlook, the Indian market has emerged as a shining beacon for lighting manufacturers. Rising domestic demands, emphasis on Made in India, tariff-free and other opportunities are encouraging manufacturers to enter the market.

Leading Japanese LED manufacturer Nichia spoke to Taiwanese reporters about technologies it will be focusing on this year, and about its outlook for 2016, during a press conference held at Palais de Chine Hotel in Taipei, Taiwan on Thursday.

Leading Taiwanese LED manufacturer EVERLIGHT displayed its LED component for lighting product portfolio at the biannual Light+Building 2016 that runs from March 13-16, at Frankfurt Fair and Exhibition Center in Germany. EVERLIGHT representatives at the show Ewing Liu, Head of Lighting Product Development and Dr. Christopher Keusch, the company’s Europe branch Senior Technical Sales Manager of EMEA spoke to LEDinside about LED lighting market developments in Europe.

Leading LED manufacturer Lumileds has started off first quarter of 2016 with a strong mid power LED product portfolio range that is positioned to overtake market shares from competitors, said the company’s Vice President of Marketing and Product Management Rahul Bammi in an exclusive interview with LEDInside.

LED filament bulbs is an emerging product on the market that holds great market potential, with high visibility in the Middle East, Americas and Europe. It is also one of the most important lighting products in the Asian manufacturing supply chain. For instance, Taiwanese LED manufacturer Epistar currently holds crucial LED patents that comprise the core technology in LED filament bulbs. In an exclusive interview with Epistar managers and directors including Alexandar Wang, Director of the company’s Marketing Center Segment Group, the company’s Intellectual Property Division Meng-chun Kuo, Director, and Walter K.Y. Chou, Manager of the company’s Intellectual Property Department III, these managers revealed LED filament bulb market’s latest trends, technology development, and patent strategy deployment.

CSP LEDs developed by Taiwanese LED manufacturer Genesis Photonics Inc. (GPI) are being shipped to Japan, Europe and U.S. markets is gradually taking off. In a recent interview with LEDinside, the company’s CEO Mark Chen analyzed the company’s wafer level Chip Scale Package (CSP) LEDs that were an extension of its flip chip technology, and the advantages these products have in future niche market applications.

In an exclusive interview with LEDinside, Beatrice Witzgall, founder and CEO of LumiFi shares her valuable insights and opportunities in the smart lighting industry. The award winning lighting designer, who has been in the lighting industry for over two decades, shared how she transformed  experience accumulated from working with prestigious lighting design firms L’Observatoire and I3D to developing smart lighting products.

Left bleeding from price wars over the past few years, LED manufacturers are seeking alternative markets and restructuring business strategies. Epistar for instance is looking into niche markets including GaN power devices and specialized lighting, said Carson Hsieh,Vice President, R&D Center,Epistar during his presentation at LEDforum 2015, which took place recently at Room 201, National Taiwan University Hospital International Convention Center, Taipei, Taiwan.

Rapid developments in lighting technology are shifting driver demands, said David Lucchetti, Director of Marketing and Application Industrial, Power and Discrete Group Greater China and South Asia Region, STMicroelectronics at LEDforum 2015, which took place recently in Taipei, Taiwan.

From the exterior plastic smartphone case, wearable device wrist bands, semiconductors IC packaging, specialty material for crucial optoelectronic components to aeronautics and military applications, there are several large chemical manufacturers striving to provide better innovative products to their clients. Over the years they have significantly transformed people’s living experience. Among them, Solvay Specialty Polymers, a business of Belgian chemical company Solvay Corporate is one of the leading companies in the sector that has applied its products in all sorts of applications related to human lives. The company provides 1,500 high performance polymers, including fluoropolymers, fluoroelastomers, fluorinated fluids, semi-aromatic polyamides, sulfone polymers, aromatic ultra-high performance polymers, high‑barrier polymers and cross-linked high-performance compounds.

Leading U.S. LED manufacturer Cree announced earlier this month, it will be rebranding its power and RF business as Wolfspeed. In an exclusive interview with LEDinside analyst and assistant manager Joanne Wu, Cree co-founder and CTO John Palmour spoke about the company’s rebranding strategy and current trends in the Radio Frequency (RF) and power market.

Having ventured into the color LED market with its traffic light products in 1998, leading LED manufacturer Lumileds has come a long way with its color LED designs.

Raging price wars in the LED industry urged many manufacturers to veer away from low entry level products, and invest their resources in more profitable niche markets. Some of these markets include IR LED, UV LED, automotive lighting, grow lights, and smart lighting to name a few. The conventional wisdom is tapping into a blue sea market at an early stage would give enterprises a competitive edge in the market. But one top Chinese manufacturer MLS Co. LTD (or also known as Forest Lighting) is challenging this concept.

Dwindling profits in the LED package market has made market competitions far more ferocious, and has even affected phosphor, a key LED material. Whether it is the highly mature yellow powder or the maturing green and red phosphor, “increased volume and plunging prices” has become a LED phosphor tag. To better understand phosphor manufacturers challenging survival environment, LEDinside interviewed China’s leading phosphor manufacturer Bree Optronics Deputy General Manager Chao Liang.

LED light source module has matured these years. More LED packages are suitable for lighting applications have emerged including chip-on-board (COB) and flip chip. Under this situation, there is a growing emphasis on developing omnidirectional 360 degrees and good thermal dissipation LED light sources in the market. As a result, Korean, Japanese and Chinese manufacturers have become increasingly focused on the development of the above listed products.

The LED lighting market has gradually slowed down in recent years after a period of exponential growth, and the Chinese market is seeing intense pricing competition. These factors have driven manufacturers to advance their LED technologies and aggressively develop uncontested markets. With its focus on high-power LED components, Edison Opto establishes a leading market position by utilizing its advantages in technology expertise and R&D.

In an intensely fought semi-final match on June 30, the U.S. women soccer team beat German team 2-0 at FIFA Women’s World Cup and secured its spot in the competition finals. Sharp-eyed viewers might recognize the team’s captain Abby Wambach had recently showed off her impressive goal shooting skills in U.S. LED manufacturer Cree’s sports lighting advertisement. The ad featuring Wambach had attracted more than 550,000 views in two weeks across all Cree and Abby Wambach social channels, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, said Mike Watson, Vice President of Product Strategy at Cree.

The lack of LED standards is still a big issue, and users do not always understand the LED terminology jargon, which often leads to dissatisfied consumer experiences, said WhichLEDLight’s Commercial Director Rory Wilding in a recent interview with LEDinside.

Founded in 2014, Which LED Light, is a website in UK that offers different brands LED bulb price comparison information to end consumers, designers, and installers. To ensure only good quality LED products are recommended on the website, only products that have been tested in International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) certified labs are offered on the UK-based company website. The company’s Commercial Director Rory Wilding recently spoke to LEDinside about the company’s business model and how interested manufacturers can submit their products for review.

LED market trends observed at Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition  2015 (GILE 2015) that took place in Guangzhou, China in mid-June  can be summed up in this short poem:

San Jose-based LED chip manufacturer Lumileds has continued to thrive in the increasingly harsh cutthroat pricing LED market environment, by focusing on its LED technology development, introducing more cost effective CSP technology, and refining its mid-power and CoB market strategy, said the company CEO Pierre-Yves Lesaicherre during an exclusive interview with LEDinside at Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition (GILE), China from June 9-12, 2015.

The emerging “Quantified Self” trend involves people monitoring, managing and tracking their health and wellbeing through digitalized biomedical information. Equipped with optical sensors, wearable devices such as smart watches and smartbands help consumers collect and measure different biological indicators and stats about themselves. Unlike the fiercely contested white LED market, the newly developing wearable device market is an untapped blue ocean market that presents incredible opportunities for the LED industry.

German lighting manufacturer Osram has been a forerunner in automotive lighting, developing a lot of advanced automotive lighting applications including laser headlights for luxury car brands Audi and BMW, and OLED taillights for the BMW i8.

LEDinside recently interviewed Louis Lam CEO of Osram Opto Semiconductors Asia about the company’s future LED product outlook for niche market applications, including IR LED, laser diodes, and the automotive lighting market and German government subsidies that are supporting industry developments.