Olympic Games Rio 2016 propelled Chinese lighting manufacturers into the international sports arena with many lighting up Olympic venues and landmarks, and helped manufacturers break the OEM stereotype in the eyes of international clients, reported Chinese language media 21st Century Business Herald.

Jufei Opto announced its total revenue soared 57.32% Year-on-Year to reach RMB 654.96 million (US $98.62 million) in first half of 2016, but its gross margin declined during the period.

Chang Wah Technology (CWTC) LED leadframe business has shown strong growth this year, as the company makes breakthroughs in pre-molded leadframe technology, reported Money DJ.com.

Thin fine pitch indoor LED displays have caught on the market in recent years, but a big challenge for the industry is miniaturizing LED suitable for display smaller than 100-inch, said Min-Hsun Hsieh, Vice President (VP) of R&D Center at EPISTAR during a recent interview with LEDinside.

Indian LED manufacturer Eveready Industries acquired a large order of 1.3 million LED tube lights from the state-owned power company Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. (EESL), reported Business Standard.

A subsidiary of Thailand’s Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), PEA Encom International, announced it will be establishing LED lighting products and solar panels manufacturing facilities, reported The Nation.

A new national framework to help councils drive forward major energy efficient street light replacements has gone live.

Alpha Assembly Solutions, the world leader in the production of electronic soldering and bonding materials, announces the election of their Vice President of Energy Technologies, Ravi M. Bhatkal, Ph.D., to the iNEMI Global Board of Directors for a second term.

Several interesting developments happened in the OLED sector this week, with the Taiwanese government announcing it will be pouring US $3 billion to develop flexible AMOLED and PMOLED industries in the nation. The flexible display technology will be co-developed with ITRI, and the government aims to form a comprehensive OLED supply chain in Taiwan and reducing the country’s reliance on material imports. Cadillac also showcased its OLED concept car in California on Friday, where it is employing four large OLED panels for its Escala concept car dashboard.

Top LED manufacturer AOT posted stable revenues for second quarter, but bad product portfolio and pressure to lower prices, lead to sliding gross margins and net losses.

Diehard fans of Star Wars that have dreamed of deflecting laser light beams with Jedi light sabers might get a chance in a future Disneyland.

The Escala Concept debuts in California tonight, introducing the next evolution of Cadillac design and previewing the craftsmanship and technology being developed for many future models. Following a series of private previews, Escala will be displayed this weekend at the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

In order to reflect its true value to the lighting industry, the National Association of Independent Lighting Distributors has changed its name to the National Association of Innovative Lighting Distributors, the organization announced today.

The night of August 18th marks a new milestone at The Wharf, as Hoffman-Madison Waterfront's commitment to revitalizing the Southwest waterfront comes to life. On August 18th at 9:15pm, the new lighting design of the Francis Case Memorial Bridge (Case Bridge) will be inaugurated by Washington DC's Mayor Muriel Bowser. The inaugural lighting will gradually unveil the final design, offering a new perspective on the bridge and the City.

Chinese LED manufacturers Nationstar, Opple Lighting and Ocean King all unveiled their latest earnings for first half of 2016.

Everlight announced that it will be filing another suit to invalidate Nichia’s YAG LED patent in Germany.

Just as LED manufacturers are struggling in face of the declining profit in the lighting sector and the contraction of the backlight market, OLED emerges as the latest threat to their survival. Elevated by its potential to become one of Apple’s core technologies, OLED has expanded rapidly into various display and niche applications. While the LED industry expects even more challenging times ahead, new opportunities also appear on the horizon. Micro LED, which has been incorporated into Apple and Sony’s product roadmaps, are poised to become a commercially viable display technology that can be mass produced for everyday applications.

Chinese manufacturers technology have advanced in the past year to result in large GaN price fluctuations, and have entered III-V EPI-wafer synthesizing industry to build a comprehensive IoT and telecommunication supply chain in the upstream sector.

Opple Lighting successfully closed its first IPO and raised RMB 864 million (US $130.26 million) after issuing 58 million shares, the company stated.

OLED displays might not be found on all iPhone 8 that is rumored to be launched in September 2017, according to a Barron’s blog article.

Lenovo demonstrated prototype tablets and smartphones housing flexible displays at Lenovo Tech World in June 2016, but its latest online video shows the company might launch other new products at the upcoming IFA in the next few weeks.

Changelight announced its revenue soared 107.14% to RMB 458.34 million (US $69.08 million) in second half of 2016, but its net profits tumbled, reported China Securities.

With judgment dated August 16, 2016 (docket number X ZR 96/14), the German Federal Court of Justice decided that the German part of Nichia’s patent EP 936 682 (DE 697 02 929), i.e. the “YAG patent” is valid. As a consequence, the Federal Court of Justice lifted entirely the first instance judgment of the German Federal Patent Court from 2014 (docket number 2 Ni 11/12) which had found Nichia’s YAG patent invalid and dismissed in total the nullity action initiated by Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. (“Everlight”).

Kyulux, an advanced materials startup company that is commercializing the next generation of OLED display and lighting technology known as TADF (Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence), announced today that it has secured a license to  Harvard University's  Molecular Space Shuttle deep learning system for the discovery of materials for display and lighting applications. The Molecular Space Shuttle is an artificial intelligence platform designed by Alán Aspuru-Guzik's group at  Harvard's Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

Cree, a market leader in LED lighting, today announced revenue of US $388 million for its fourth quarter of fiscal 2016, ended June 26, 2016. This represents a 2% increase compared to revenue of $382 million reported for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, and a 6% increase compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2016. GAAP net loss for the fourth quarter was $11 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net loss of $88 million, or $0.83 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015. On a non-GAAP basis, net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 was $19 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net loss for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 of $21 million, or $0.19 per diluted share.

Global Clean Energy, GCE has signed distribution agreements with EPG Source of Dallas, Texas a leading Smart Energy and LED provider.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) announced it will be supporting the development of OLED technology in Taiwan and will be investing NT $100 billion (about US $3.21 billion) to develop the technology, during a press conference to promote new display technologies in the country’s capital Taipei, stated the ministry.

HC Semitek revenue was impressive for first half of 2016, according to the company’s latest financial statements.

China Electric and Philips Lighting launched a joint International Lighting Design Center in Taipei on Monday, stated Taiwanese LED luminaire manufacturer China Electric.

China Electric, a leading Taiwanese LED luminaire manufacturer and owner of lighting brand TOA, announced it won the bid for three large scale LED streetlight projects in Taiwan this year totaling NT $400 million (US $12.84 million).