Multinational electronics company Panasonic will start growing and marketing high-value vegetables in China from March 2018 with its vertical farm in Suzhou. Those vegetables will be made into salads and sold to up to 30 shops in Suzhou and Shanghai.

Chinese LED behemoth San’an Optoelectronics today issued a document announcing that it will team up with Samsung to Co-develop Micro LED displays.

LEDVANCE announced to recall its recessed canister light kits after receiving reports of customers.

Philips Lighting just announced the company's fourth quarter and full year results 2017. "In line with our objectives, Philips Lighting returned to comparable sales growth in 2017 driven by the growth of LED and connected lighting Systems & Services, which demonstrates the successful execution of our strategy," said CEO Eric Rondolat.

Seoul Semiconductor announced 2017 fiscal year consolidated revenues of US$ 1.04 billion. The 16% rise in consolidated revenues far exceeds the industry average, which grew 2% during the same period. The growth of revenue is contributed to improvements in both general lighting sales and IT product related sales growing in the mid-teens as well as the automotive lighting business which grew more than 20%.

Eric Rondolat, CEO of Philips Lighting, talked briefly about the lighting market in the US during an interview with CNBC.

Philips Lighting nnounced that CDP, a non-profit global environmental disclosure platform, has recognized the company as a Supplier Engagement Leader for 2018.

UK-based LED wholesaler Mirrorstone Lighting demonstrated an innovative infrared panel heater able to save energy and replace traditional heating systems in the households in the UK.

International Lighting-Design company Klaasen Lighting Design (KLD), which has offices in Singapore, Perth, Shanghai and Jakarta, has entered into a partnership agreement with US based data platform provider Gooee.

Last year, Taiwanese LED packaging company EVERLIGHT registered a lukewarm annual earnings with a YoY decline of 6.6%. In face of looming threats from Chinese competitors, EVERLIGHT adjusts its product mix in hope to push up its revenue in 2018.

Aledia, a developer and manufacturer of next-generation 3D LEDs for display applications based on its gallium-nitride-nanowires-on-silicon platform, announced the closing of its Series C financing round with Intel Capital as a new investor.

Veeco Instruments Inc. announced that EXALOS has ordered a Propel GaN Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) System for the research and development of high-performance broadband superluminescent light emitting diodes (SLEDs). EXALOS, headquartered in Switzerland, is expected to receive the Propel system in the third quarter of 2018.

KAIST researchers have discovered a technology that enhances the efficiency of Quantum Dot LEDs.

A KAIST research team led by Professor Keon Jae Lee from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Professor Daesoo Kim from the Department of Biological Sciences has developed flexible vertical micro LEDs (f-VLEDs) using anisotropic conductive film (ACF)-based transfer and interconnection technology. The team also succeeded in controlling animal behavior via optogenetic stimulation of the f-VLEDs.

Future Farm Technologies Inc. updated that its LED Canada division has made significant progress in the past quarter.

Samsung Display and Air Products has signed new long-term contracts to supply gaseous nitrogen and oxygen, and liquid argon to Samsung's Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) manufacturing complex in Tangjeong, South Korea.

Universal Display Corporation announced that the Company and display manufacturer Sharp have entered into an extended and updated evaluation agreement.

A group of scientists found a method to grow wheat twice as fast as the speed using standard approaches. This method can help feed the rapidly-growing population worldwide.

Finance of Taiwanese LED giant Epistar saw a noticeable recuperation last year. The market this year anticipates Mini LED, one of Epistar’s new lineup, to generate a revenue for the company in 2H18.

Since Apple joined to share some of the OLED supply for its iPhone X in 2017, the shortage of OLED panels has become intensified. Because of the agreement Apple signed with the exclusive supplier Samsung, Apple always stays in the list as the top priority that a large proportion of the OLED supply goes to. Other smartphone manufacturers struggle as they also want to use OLED panels for their products but the supply is simply not enough. Thus, they, the Chinese smartphone brands in particular, turned to Mini LED.

A series of acts of Samsung developing Micro LED has been gradually unveiled. From the rumor about its investment in Taiwan-based Micro LED startup PlayNitride to the recent demonstration of its gigantic Micro LED modular TV The Wall at CES 2018, they more or less suggest Samsung’s attempt to rival other display makers with the Micro LED technology.

Apple has reportedly been granted a patent covering an optical system featuring near infrared technology that can be used for fields such as medical diagnosis and night vision.  

Cree yesterday announced financial results for its second quarter of fiscal 2018, ended December 24, 2017.

Japan Display Inc. (JDI) announced that it has developed a transparent glass-based capacitive fingerprint sensor by applying the company's capacitive multi-touch technology used in its other liquid crystal displays (LCDs). JDI plans to start commercial shipments within its 2018 fiscal year, which ends March of 2019.

LG Display reported unaudited earnings results based on consolidated K-IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) for the three-month period ending December 31, 2017.

Philips Lighting announced on January 10 that it was letting go of a portion of the employees at its R&D laboratory in Eindhoven, reported DutchNews.nl.

WitsView, a division of TrendForce, reports that global LCD TV panel shipments increased quarter by quarter in 2017. 1H17 showed less momentum for holiday sales due to the high prices, but shipments rebounded in 2H17 as the prices declined and TV makers prepared for the year-end sales. Moreover, the new production capacities of BOE’s Gen 8.5 fab in Fuqing and HKC’s Gen 8.6 fab in Chongqing have been focusing on middle-size TV panels (43" and 32" respectively), bringing the annual shipments beyond expectation to 263.83 million pieces, an increase of 1.3% compared with 2016.

LEDVANCE stated on January 11 that it will shut down two facilities producing traditional lighting products and it is looking to complete the closing by December 2018, as EdisonReport carried in an article.

Sumitomo Chemical has reportedly phased out its LED sapphire substrate business. SSLM, a South Korean sapphire wafer joint venture funded by Sumitomo Chemical and Samsung, stopped manufacturing sapphire substrates and Samsung also claimed to have halted investments in the company, reported The Nihon Keizai Shinbun.

VLNComm, a US-basesd firm focusing on the development of bi-directional Li-Fi, has developed the fastest, most affordable and most innovative Li-Fi LED lighting panel in the industry. Introduced and successfully demonstrated before to more than 500 people at CES 2018, the LumiNex panel is capable of 108Mbps download speeds and when coupled with the LumiStick 2, 53Mbps upload speeds. Coverage is 516 square feet and includes support for 15 users simultaneously all through the use of industry standard white LEDs.