Micro LED has become an obvious technology trend that even Samsung has started to eagerly tap into. According to international OLED publication OLED-info, Samsung is rumored to acquire Taiwan-based Micro LED manufacturer PlayNitride for up to US$150 million. Samsung would use the next generation display technology for VR applications and TVs in the future, the report said.

MaxLite will demonstrate IntelliMax™, an intelligent wireless lighting control system, at LIGHTFAIR® International 2017, May 9-11, in Philadelphia.

LG Innotek is participating in Light Fair International 2017 in Philadelphia, U.S. from May 9 through 11. The company will target the global market while introducing various new products including UV (Ultraviolet rays) LED packages, high-power LED packages, LED for automotive, etc. 

The increased use of LEDs for horticultural lighting has made that product segment especially competitive. A recently issued U.S. Patent covers an invention that dramatically reduces the cost of manufacturing horticultural LEDs! The company that acquires this patent and implements this technology will leapfrog the technology of all of its competitors and grab a significant share of the horticultural LED market. 

U.S. LED lighting manufacturer Cree announced a layoff of around 70 jobs across its local operations and at its headquarters in Durham, only days after it announced disappointing earnings report.

If you are doing hydroponic food production or thinking about doing this type of production, your input is needed. Controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) production researchers Roberto Lopez and Kellie Walters at Michigan State University and Chris Currey at Iowa State University have developed a survey to gain a better understanding of current hydroponic food production practices. The researchers will also use the results of the survey to help determine future research projects as well as their extension efforts.

The Zhaga Consortium, a global association of lighting companies that is standardizing components of LED luminaires, has finalized several new and updated specifications for LED lighting products that are typically used in spotlighting and related applications.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has formally requested that the Secretary of Energy complete a rulemaking for general service lamps (light bulbs) that Congress required in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA-2007). 

Delta, a major provider of power and thermal management solutions, announced its subsidiary Delta Products Corporation was named as 2017 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year - Product Brand Owner Award winner by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. on April 26.

Orion Energy Systems, Inc. (Orion Lighting), a designer and manufacturer of high-performance, energy-efficient LED lighting products, announced preliminary, unaudited financial results for its fourth quarter (Q4 ’17) and fiscal year ended March 31, 2017.

Hong Kong will soon replace its street lights with more energy-efficient LED units, government officials confirmed. The competent authority, Honk Kong Highways Department, on Wednesday said due to mature LED technology and the significant drop in prices of LED light, the department agrees now is the right time to commence LED street lights replacement scheme. It added that replacement work has already started in the current financial year.

U.S. LED maker Cree Inc. on Tuesday reported a fiscal third-quarter loss that missed expectations. Shares of Cree further plunged 11% on Wednesday. Cree also announced that it is forming a joint venture with San’an Optoelectronics Co., Ltd., China’s largest maker of LED epitaxial wafers and chips, to produce and deliver to market high-performing, mid-power lighting class LED packaged products. The news caused quite a stir in the LED industry.

Hong Kong-based investment company Kiu Hung International Holdings Limited ("Kiu Hung International" or the "Group") plans to develop robotic technology business in the hotel industry together with Shanghai Liming Intelligent Technology Limited ("Shanghai Liming"). The 2014 Nobel Laureate physicist, Professor Shuji Nakamura, was invited to the conference named "First Launch Front-desk Robot in China", hosted by Shanghai Liming and title-sponsored by the Group to share his views on the trend and potential of the intelligent hotel technology business.

Monocrystal, a specialist in synthetic sapphire growing and processing, announced the release of its new Ultra-Clean sapphire wafers.

AIXTRON SE (FSE: AIXA; OTC: AIXNY), a major provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, announced its financial results for the first quarter 2017.

Osram Lighting Solutions designed and implemented innovative LED hall lighting for the Nordichallen, a modern exhibition space and football hall in the Swedish city of Sundsvall. The new lighting solution complies with professional light requirements as stipulated by the Swedish Football Association and simultaneously saves around 65 percent energy. The home team of GIF Sundsvall, a club in the Allsvenskan premier Swedish football league, uses the hall for daily training, hall competitions and friendly matches.

Apart from reporting its third-quarter financial results, Cree, Inc. on Tuesday also announced that it is forming a joint venture with San’an Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. to produce and deliver to market high-performing, mid-power lighting class LED packaged products in an exclusive arrangement to serve the expanding markets of North and South America, Europe and Japan, and serve China and the rest of the world on a non-exclusive basis.

Cree, Inc. on Tuesday announced financial results for its third quarter of fiscal 2017, ended March 26, 2017, which missed Wall Street expectations. Shares of Cree declined over 7% in after-hours trade.

Osram announced the availability of SIMPLUX™, a simple standalone wireless lighting control system designed for small- to mid-sized spaces up to 10,000 square feet and/or up to 100 nodes. For maximum design flexibility, SIMPLUX enables specifiers to choose virtually any manufacturer’s luminaire that has a 0-10V dimmable ballast or LED driver, and deliver fixture-by-fixture or full group control as needed. SIMPLUX also offers an easy upgrade path to POLARIS 3D software and the ENCELIUM® networked light management system for more sophisticated, enterprise-level control or integration to building automation systems via BACNet®. 

Philips Lighting announced that MediaMarkt’s flagship store in the center of Eindhoven will introduce "Store Guide” app.  It allows customers in store to use their smartphones to locate products and be guided to them quickly and easily thanks to innovative LED lighting that acts as an indoor positioning system.  

NTT DOCOMO, INC., in a continuing quest to create innovative new business, has developed a spherical drone display - an unmanned aerial vehicle that displays LED images on an omnidirectional spherical screen while in flight - which DOCOMO believes to be a world first (as of April 16, 2017).

The Brecon Beacons National Park, one of the three national parks in Wales, UK, has earned special protection of its night sky from light pollution and is an ideal place for stargazing. However, for the sake of safety, the Welsh Government recently installed LED street lights in Cwmdu, Powys, leaving a campaign group concerned. 

At the 2017 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show, Leyard, a global leader in visualization products, and Planar, a Leyard company, launched the Leyard® LED MultiTouch, the industry’s first seamless LED touch-enabled video wall. This proprietary multi-touch solution revolutionizes interactivity for narrow pixel pitch LED video walls without the disadvantages of front glass—offering a seamless, smooth, lightweight and durable LED touch surface that delivers superior visual performance enabled by the patent-pending Leyard® PLTS™ (Pliable LED Touch Surface™) technology.

Ultratech, Inc. a supplier of lithography, laser-processing and inspection systems used to manufacture semiconductor devices and high-brightness LEDs (HB-LEDs), announced unaudited results for the three-month period ended April 1, 2017.

Philips Lighting announced the company’s 2017 first quarter results on Friday, which showed improvement in comparable sales growth, continued increase in operational profitability and free cash flow.

This Tuesday (April 18th, 2017), Samsung Electronics (SAMSUNG), the second largest LED chip manufacturer, successfully held the 2017 “SAMSUNG LED New Product and Technology Seminar” in Shanghai Marriott Hotel Pudong East. The seminar discussed topics on medium power LED, high power LED, CSP, COB, filament LED, and LED’s future development trend.

Power management company Eaton announced that it’s being recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a 2017 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award winner. The Sustained Excellence Award is the result of the company being named for the third consecutive year and Eaton is the first lighting luminaire manufacturer to receive this distinguished honor since 2009.

Revolution Lighting Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVLT) (“Revolution Lighting”), a global provider of advanced LED lighting solutions, announced it has opened a new state of the art facility in Simi Valley, California, expanding the warehouse and production space for its industry leading LED technologies, including its high performance Buy American Act (BAA) and Trade Agreements Act (TAA) compliant LED tubes.

Among the possible new technologies to be incorporated in this year’s refresh of the iPhone series, 3D sensing has generated a lot of interests in terms of applications. A 3D sensing solution requires an RGB camera module an infrared (IR) sensor module that uses VCSEL (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser) as a light source. With more high-end smartphones adopt 3D sensing, TrendForce estimates that the worldwide market scale of IR sensor modules for mobile devices will reach US$145 million in 2017.

Apple is said to start producing a small amount of Micro LED displays from a plant in northern Taiwan by the end of 2017 and use them on its new Apple Watch, according to a recent report published by Taiwan’s Taipei Times.