China’s capital Beijing has installed 28 streetlights enhanced with advanced graphene material technology in Tongzhou District, which can slash energy consumption by 20% to 30% compared to current lamps on the market, reported China Daily.

AIXTRON, one of the world’s leading providers of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, announced today that Grand Chip Investment GmbH (GCI) declared today that the voluntary public takeover offer for the acquisition of all shares, including all shares represented by ADSs, of AIXTRON SE (AIXTRON) by GCI published on July 29, 2016 has lapsed due to the non-fulfillment of an offer condition.

Nanoco Group, a world leader in the development and manufacture of cadmium-free quantum dots and other nanomaterials, announces that it has acquired a group of patents from the Eastman Kodak Company ("Kodak") in connection with the use of quantum dots in electroluminescent displays, a future display technology.

Leviton announced the acquisition of ConTech Lighting, a leading, Chicago-based manufacturer of high-performance and sustainable lighting solutions and fixtures. Through this acquisition, Leviton continues its strategic growth in lighting and expands its product offerings and solutions with ConTech Lighting’s high-quality, innovative designs.

The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has recently released a free, open-access circadian stimulus (CS) calculator to help lighting professionals select light sources and light levels that will increase the potential for circadian-effective light exposure in architectural spaces, utilizing the CS metric. Developed by LRC researchers, the CS metric is a new way to quantify light’s impact on acute melatonin suppression, a marker of circadian system activation.

LED technologies are rapidly growing in terms of market share for roadway lighting systems in the U.S., with about 15% of roadway lights using LED sources. Unlike the yellowish glow of high pressure sodium lamps found in most of the other U.S. streetlights, LED illumination usually is white in color. This difference has sparked concerns about health and wellbeing from the American Medical Association (AMA).

Chinese LED manufacturer Lianovation filed a suit against Hanen Digital Interconnect Culture (Hanen Digital) for not returning earnest money after the two organizations canceled an acquisition deal, reported Chinese-language media Sinai.

Sharp has developed green laser diodes, and are running pilot projects of the lasers in its facilities in Mihara, Japan, reported Nikkei.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, to promote local manufacturing of LED bulbs fell flat when suppliers could not keep up with the large volume of demands, reported The Quint.

Since the launch of its Smart Energy Savers Program® in 2009, Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) has been educating customers on simple ways to reduce energy use and costs. Today, BGE marks two major milestones. First, BGE customers have bought more than 25 million energy-saving LED and CFL light bulbs, saving nearly $40 million at checkout with instant discounts. Second, BGE has performed 200,000 Quick Home Energy Check-ups in its service area, helping customers better understand their homes’ energy use and suggesting ways to save energy and money.

The chances of Chinese investor Grand Chip Investment (GCI) acquiring Aixtron are looking rather slim, following U.S. President Barack Obama recent order that bans the business transaction, reported Bloomberg.

Analog Devices. (ADI) announced the acquisition of a solid-state laser beam steering technology from Vescent Photonics, Inc., a privately held company based in Golden, Colorado. Vescent’s innovative non-mechanical beam steering technology enables more robust integrated LIDAR1 systems that overcome many of the major drawbacks associated with today’s bulky mechanical offerings such as reliability, size, and cost. This acquisition strengthens ADI’s position as a major automotive safety system technology partner for next generation ADAS and autonomous driving applications and builds on ADI’s 20-year history in advancing automotive safety.

Jufei Opto announced recently in a statement that it signed a red phosphor license agreement with leading U.S. manufacturer GE Lighting.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) announced it is close to concluding Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA) talks in Geneva, Switzerland, which would reduce tariffs for eco-friendly products including LED lights, bikes, and recycled paper products.

Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer Panasonic is in talks with Austrian headlight maker ZKW Group, a Bloomberg report quoted person familiar with the matter saying.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science published the Fiscal Year 2017 Phase I, Release 2 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) on November 28, 2016, for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs. Under DE-FOA-0001619, whose complete listing of technical topics was released on October 31, DOE seeks applicants for grants directed toward FY17 Phase I, Release 2 projects. Topics for this funding opportunity can be found at //science.energy.gov/sbir/funding-opportunities and include LED and OLED lighting (see topic 10b).

Early in May, Luxlite, Epistar's sole distributor in China, has sent out an announcement of price adjustment, listing a number of reasons for price increase, including continuingly increased raw materials and manpower costs.  （Official announcements from Luxlite, Smalit and Rishang regarding the rise of LED package price） Chinese LED chips manufacturers San’an Opto and HC Semitek followed suit Epistar’s lead in raising LED chip prices, which was considered as an early sign of recovery from the heated price war since 2014. Major...

According to AIXTRON SE's press release, Japanese group Toyoda Gosei has acquired an enhanced 5x4-inch CRIUS Close Coupled Showerhead (CCS) system to manufacture Blue and Ultra Violet (UV) LEDs. The tool is scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2017.

Monocrystal, a global leader in synthetic sapphire growing and processing, shipped its 5 millionth four-inch equivalent (FIE) sapphire wafer. Large diameter wafers have recently become a mainstream product, driven by LED makers’ immediate benefit from a 30% increase in MOCVD reactor throughput and higher binning yields. At the same time, sapphire wafer shape and cleanness are crucial in achieving high epitaxial yields and getting the benefits of using large diameters.

Facing a severe operation crisis Korean conglomerate Samsung Electronic is considering to take the advice of hedge fund management firm Elliott Management Corporation to spin-off into two independent legal entities, The Seoul Economic Daily cited sources familiar with the matter.

China’s LED lighting market value will surpass RMB 500 billion (US $72.45 billion) by 2016, said Ling Wu, the Secretary General of China’s International Solid State Alliance (ISA).

Surging investments made by Chinese firms in EU high-tech industries is fueling conflict between Beijing, Berlin and Brussels, reported The Politico.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s abrupt demonization policies launched on Nov. 8, 2016 and its ripple effect has left a dent for LED manufacturers relying heavily on cash transactions, reported The Hindu.

Technavio analysts forecast the global automotive adaptive front lighting system market to grow at a CAGR of almost 13% during the forecast period, according to their latest report.

How many times has the lighting industry come together to discuss, criticize even try to find a solution for the poor quality, non-compliant products entering the UK market un-checked, creating confusion and unfair competition?

The II-VI Infrared Division of II-VI Incorporated, a company specializing in laser optics, announced that Dr. Ahmad Magad, Group Managing Director of the II-VI Infrared Optics Manufacturing Operations in Asia, was awarded the 2016 Walter L. Hurd Executive Medal by the Asia Pacific Quality Organization (APQO). Dr. Ahmad Magad will receive the award on Nov. 21, 2016 at the 22nd Asia Pacific Quality Conference in Rotorua, New Zealand.

Aixtron and Grand Chip Investment defy CFIUS objections to cancel the deal over U.S. national security concerns, and are appealing to U.S. President Barack Obama to approve the case in the next 15-days. The German Economic Ministry halted the acquisition business transaction, shortly after U.S. government representatives presented evidence suggesting Aixtron’s might pose a national security threat, which a Wall Street Journal reported mainly involves GaN epiwafer growing technology, a material that could be made to use improve military equipment such as radar.

Even though the decorative lighting industry performance was average in 2016, the industry remained upbeat about its market outlook next year, according to statistics compiled by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).

Taiwanese automotive LED module manufacturer Laster Tech will be listed on the local bourse in mid-December 2016, reported Now News.

According to Nature World News, more than 18 million people in Japan suffer from hair loss, a figure about three times that of U.S., which led a Japanese company to come up with an innovative idea to regenerate hair growth: red LED helmets.