Cree on October 17 released a webcast reporting its 1Q18 financial results. The next-day financial report showed a decrease of 3% YoY in the LED chip maker’s revenue. Gregg Lowe, Cree CEO, stated with faith that the company will implement new strategies in the next few months. Cree is speculated to invest heavily in its chip business and to exit the consumer lighting market. Its stock jumped 16% on Wednesday after the new CEO announced the new guidance. 

Taiwan-based LED manufacturer Epistar's revenue in September rose to NTD 2.476 billion, setting a new record high since April 2015. Its revenue in the third quarter of 2017 also set a new record for the past 12 quarters, reaching NTD 7.057 billion.

Cree yesterday announced financial results for its first quarter of fiscal 2018, ended September 24, 2017. Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2018 was $360 million, which represents a 3% decrease compared to revenue of $371 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 and a slight increase compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017. 

GB Energie LED announced the completion of an LED retrofit project for Leesburg Executive Airport in Leesburg, Virginia. The project included the installation of LED lighting solutions within the terminal, as well as exterior building lighting and throughout parking lots to improve lighting levels and increase energy efficiency, improving lighting energy use by more than 60%.

Acuity Brands announced LocusLabs, Inc. has joined the Atrius™ Internet of Things (IoT) partner ecosystem. LocusLabs plans to enable its location-as-a-service platform to take advantage of the Atrius IoT platform’s location-based services (LBS) and indoor positioning services (IPS).

The ideal solution for microLED makers would be the availability of efficient nitride LEDs in both green and red. In this case, all RGB LEDs would be composed of the same material with the same behaviors and driving conditions. The challenge is to find one material capable of spanning the blue to red spectrum. 

Veeco Instruments announced that Acken Optoelectronics will receive the first shipment of Veeco’s new GENxcel™ Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) System.

Osram acquires a stake in the Swiss company beaconsmind AG. Via its venture capital unit, Fluxunit, the lighting company has gained a strategic minority interest in the start-up that offers smart software to retailers, enabling a personalized approach to customers. Fluxunit supports and develops both internal and external start-ups.

Heliospectra AB (publ), an expert in intelligent lighting technology for greenhouse and controlled plant growth environments, announces a new cooperation with NYSK Holdings, a state-of-the-art medicinal cannabis facility in Macedonia. The grower is partnering with Heliospectra to be able to supply patients with consistent, pharmaceutical-grade medicine for chronic diseases year-round. The investment is valued at around $125,000 (1,016,000 SEK).

Ultravision International announced that it has reached a definitive agreement with Lamar Advertising Company, an owner and operator of outdoor advertising and logo sign displays, for Lamar to purchase LED billboard lights and Modular LED Display Panels from Ultravision.

Metropolitan Wi-Fi firm Connexin has secured up to a £10m investment to rapidly scale up and expand its smart cities business.

Sengled, makers of intelligent lighting products that integrate consumer electronics with energy efficient LED light bulbs, announced on October 12 that their Element smart lighting family now offers further convenience through voice control using the Google Assistant.

Businesses and non-profit organizations across Michigan are snapping up rebates and grants offered by the Michigan Agency for Energy (MAE) to help them reduce their energy usage and cut energy bills.

OLED patent holder Samsung Electronics now also steps into the realm of Micro LED, reported the Investor. It is also looking to acquire PlayNitride, a Taiwan-based Micro LED developer in an attempt to offset the sluggish sales of its QLED TVs.

The eagerly awaited 6th Edition of the LED Expo Thailand is all set to explore new boundaries with more than 300 exhibitors, prepping their latest to display on an expanse of over 20,000 sqm of exhibit area. A footfall comprising 15,000 international trade visitors not only from the ASEAN region as well as from across the world is expected to throng the Challenger 1 Hall of the Impact Exhibition and Convention Centre during 10-12 May ’18. The Expo witnesses participation from both exhibitors and visitors in a large number.

The first Micro LED product is Crystal LED Display that Sony showcased at CES 2012. Outwardly similar to a regular TV, it was an ultimate combination of the most state-of-the-art technologies back then. However, Sony, after its first success, had gone silent for quite a while until 2016.

The introduction of solid-state lighting using light-emitting diode (LED) technology has ignited widespread interest in the ways that lighting can offer benefits to people, including improved visibility at night, enhanced perceptions of brightness and security, and spectral tuning for management of circadian rhythms. Yet, as illustrated in a recent report from the American Medical Association (AMA), the increasing popularity of LED lighting is also raising new questions and reviving older concerns about unwanted impacts of these light sources, such as light pollution, discomfort glare, circadian disruption, and retinal damage via a mechanism known as blue-light hazard.

The U.S. Department of Energy has released a new Snapshot report on LED outdoor area lighting. Based on DOE's LED Lighting Facts®database, the report focuses on outdoor area/roadway luminaires (including street lighting and wall packs), parking garage luminaires, and canopy luminaires (e.g., those used for gas station fuel pump areas). Retrofit kits and dedicated luminaires in these categories are not considered separately, as only in the area/roadway category did retrofit kits make up a notable percentage (8%) of the products listed in the category.

The next generation display technology Micro LED draws lots of attention, but Micro LED will take time to reach the mass production (MP) phase. Before that happens, mini LED with lower technical barrier will enter its MP phase first. Sources said, panel makers and LED die manufacturers already started their collaboration. Initially, mini LED will be used for two major categories: signage and TV panel backlight source. The cooperative effort will launch ultra-fine-pitch signage and super energy-saving, ultra-slim direct lit mini LED backlight TV panels.

German-based lighting behemoth Osram announced on October 10 a total investment of EUR 25.6 million (USD 30.1 million) in its first plant in Bulgaria. The company has made public its plan to expand its production line to Eastern Europe earlier in March this year, covered in news from SeeNews.

The U.S. Department of Energy's GATEWAY program has released a new report on a trial installation of tunable-white LED lighting systems in three classrooms in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District in Carrollton, TX, which provides valuable insights into the use of this technology in a real-world setting.

German engineering conglomerate Siemens said on Wednesday it sold its share of more than 17% in Osram, the noted lighting giant that was originally a part of it, in an accelerated bookbuild run by Citigroup and Deutsche Bank.

AIXTRON announced today that Elite Advanced Laser Corporation (eLASER), a Taiwan-based provider of electronics manufacturing services (EMS) for advanced optoelectronic and radio frequency (RF) components, has placed a repeat order for an AIX G5+ C system to produce gallium nitride (GaN) epitaxial wafers and devices for power electronics applications.

Kingbright Company has recently signed an authorized distribution agreement with Arrow Electronics, Inc.

Plessey announces a partnership with leading Dutch alstroemeria grower Together2Grow, following a successful trial of its LED grow lights combined with existing high-pressure sodium (HPS) lighting in a hybrid installation.

Veeco Instruments announced that it has shipped multiple TurboDisc® EPIK® 868 Gallium Nitride (GaN) Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) systems to several leading Chinese LED manufacturers for the production of light emitting diodes (LEDs) for solid statelighting applications.

Taiwan-based LED chip manufacturer Tyntek Corporation expects positive outlook of sensors, so it plans to invest NTD 1.2~1.3 billion to build a new factory. The new plant is expected to enter mass production phase in second quarter of 2018. The design capacity of the first period is estimated to be 30,000 6-inch wafers per month. 

Philips Lighting has signed a partnership agreement with Ball Seed, one of North America’s leading wholesale horticultural distributors.

Philips Lighting has expanded its collaboration with Amazon to create an easy way to start with a voice-controlled smart home. While supplies last, customers who purchase an Echo Plus will receive a Philips Hue white connected light bulb, which can be controlled using your voice and Alexa.

Most people agree that athletic activity is healthy for mind and body, but harmful bacteria in locker rooms, restrooms and on equipment introduces the risk of infection. To combat these infections, Kenall has incorporated Indigo-Clean technology into two of the company’s best-selling sealed, high-abuse, LED light fixtures: the Millenium™ Stretch MLHA and SimpleSeal™ HASEDI Luminaires. These luminaires combine white ambient light with 405nm Indigo light in order to kill harmful bacteria, including staph, such as MRSA, and are part of a comprehensive portfolio of lighting products that Kenall has developed utilizing this revolutionary new technology.