As of Aug. 21, 2015, 14 Chinese manufacturers have released their financial results for the first half of 2015. Some have become more profitable, while others have continued to incur heavy losses. LEDinside takes a closer look into these companies financial performance.

A Kickstarter campaign called OnCourse Goggles launches crowd funding for a pair of goggles that helps athletes swim in straight line with LED signal lights.

A Foxconn worker has confirmed the company has started assembling iPhone 6S, according to Japanese media iPhone Mania. There are a total of three new models, including iPhone 6c with a 4.7-inch screen, iPhone 6s with a 5 inch screen and iPhone 6s Plus with a 5.5 inch screen.

Globalized competition is inevitable in the LED industry with an increasing number of overseas LED companies entering Chinese market and vice versa.

Research reported in Applied Physics Express (APEX) by Tohru Oka and colleagues at the Research and Development Headquarters for TOYODA GOSEI Co., Ltd in Japan describe the development of ‘vertically orientated’ GaN-based transistors with blocking voltages exceeding 1kV. These findings are important for the application of nitride devices in automobiles and related areas. 

A Dartmouth College team has created the first light-sensing system that reconstructs human postures continuously and unobtrusively, furthering efforts to create smart spaces in which people control their environment with simple gestures.

Citizens around the world are raising hell over LED streetlights they don’t like. Cities should consult with citizens before undergoing a citywide replacement.

In late July this year, a Chinese tourist surnamed Yang accidentally crashed an unmanned drone into Taipei 101, sparking national security concerns in Taiwan. On average the 508 meter tall landmark of Taipei is hit by three drones per month, according to a Taiwan News reports.

Top news this week, IKEA recalls LED PATRULL Nightlight after an electric shock involving an Austrian boy was reported. Apple is coming up with new sapphire applications in its new sapphire antenna patent. Go Scale Capital is heavily borrowing from Chinese banks in its acquisition of Lumileds, a Reuters Chinese report records where each fund is coming from. Chinese courts invalidate a Cree patent in its suit against Harvatek. Will Soraa three-phosphor violet pump LED prevail and take over blue LEDs in the future? Find out in the article below. A suspected Hong Kong blogger turns eyes with her improvised LED outfit.

IKEA urges customers who have a PATRULL nightlight to immediately stop using it and to bring it back to any IKEA store for a full refund. Proof of purchase (receipt) is not required to receive a full refund. 

Researchers from National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan have created highly flexible, efficient white LEDs with potential use in wearable displays and non-flat surfaces, such as curved and flexible television screens. While the design itself is new, the LED was completely fabricated from pre-existing technologies, allowing others to easily replicate and build on the platform.

Lunera® Lighting, a leader in lighting innovations accelerating the transformation to advanced LED technology, is pleased to announce the sale of its one-millionth Helen Lamp, a plug-and-play LED replacement for a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL). Lunera created the plug-and-play LED lamp category with the invention of its proprietary BallastLED technology. This technology enables Lunera's LED lamps to operate directly off of the existing ballast. The simplicity of this approach delivers the lowest cost solution to convert existing lighting infrastructure to energy saving LED technology.

Morris, Illinois is a legendary Chicagoland destination with a vibrant, historic downtown district. Filled with grand old Victorian homes, quaint shopping, dining, and businesses, the town's lighting evolved slowly and disjointedly during the 20th century. The result? A massively expensive, outdated patchwork of inefficient mix-and-match sodium lamps.

Illumitex, maker of technologically advanced LED grow lights, today announced an initiative to help innovative indoor growers to secure a portion of a $50M grant fund available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Highly efficient, LEDs could slash the world’s electricity consumption. They are already sold in stores, but more widespread adoption of the technology has been hindered by high costs due to limited availability of raw materials and difficulties in achieving acceptable light quality. But researchers will report today that they have overcome these obstacles and have developed a less expensive, more sustainable white LED.

A blue glowing device the size of a peppercorn can activate neurons of the brain, spinal cord or limbs in mice and is powered wirelessly using the mouse's own body to transfer energy. Developed by a Stanford Bio-X team, the device is the first to deliver optogenetic nerve stimulation in a fully implantable format.

Lighting Science Group, a leading global manufacturer of innovative LED lighting solutions, announced today the appointment of Jeff Campbell as Senior Director of Product Management. Mr. Campbell will be responsible for contributing to Lighting Science’s overall product management strategy and expanding its commercial and retail LED offerings. Reporting directly to Lighting Science CEO Ed Bednarcik, Jeff will also work closely with the company’s marketing and sales teams to effectively promote Lighting Science’s current product offerings, such as the Rhythm™ and Marquee™ Series, and the company’s new T8 Linear line, in the ever-expanding LED market.

Orion Energy Systems, a leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance, energy-efficient retrofit lighting platforms, today announced Curtis Stout will represent all Orion lighting products in the mid-south region of the US as of August 19, 2015.

As part of the Graphene Applications Innovation Centre, CPI is bringing together specialist dispersion characterization, and applications testing capability alongside a team of leading scientists with a vast array of experience in industry, research and development and technology innovation.

Advances at Oregon State University in manufacturing technology for “quantum dots” may soon lead to a new generation of LED lighting that produces a more user-friendly white light, while using less toxic materials and low-cost manufacturing processes that take advantage of simple microwave heating.

San’an Opto released its financial results for the first half of 2015 on August 18, 2015. The company’s sales reached RMB 2.3 billion (US$350 million) with 5.26% growth year on year (YoY). The reported net income available to shareholders is RMB 904 million, reflecting a 35.76% YoY growth.

Chinese courts have invalidated Cree’s patent “Apparatus and method for mounting electronic elements” (CN 200780015100.X) in its patent infringement lawsuit against Harvatek, said Harvatek Spokesperson Chi Hsiung Cheng. The company’s future product sales will benefit from the ruling, he added.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science published the Fiscal Year 2016 Phase I, Release 1 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) on August 17, 2015, for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs. Under DE-FOA-0001366, whose complete listing of technical topics was released on July 20, DOE seeks applicants for grants directed toward FY16 Phase I projects. Topics for this funding opportunity can be found at //science.energy.gov/sbir/funding-opportunities and include LED and OLED lighting (see topic 7).

Illumitex and The Pennsylvania State University are pleased to announce an educational partnership that has resulted in more than 400 Illumitex Eclipse ES2 LED grow lights being put into service in multiple greenhouses operated by the storied university's College of Agricultural Sciences.

Reuters recently broke Go Scale Capital’s US $1.93 billion loan to acquire Lumileds and former Philips automotive lighting business. The loan will mostly be used to merge with the $2.8 billion financing to acquire 80% of Lumileds shares.

Hong Kong Consumer Council and Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSC) found large disparities in energy efficiency and lifetime performances in 10 types of LED bulbs, among these included products from leading lighting brands. Differences in LED bulb efficacy reached 100%, while one sample burned out and lumen depreciation in certain products occurred at 10% mark of the product’s lifetime. A couple other products failed to pass safety tests. Consumers were advised by the council to choose LED products cautiously.

LG Display announced Monday it will be channeling future resources to the development of OLED TVs to stay ahead of Chinese competitors that are catching up rapidly in the LCD sector, reported Associated Press.

The county council has announced that Skanska has been awarded the contract to provide Gloucestershire's LED lighting scheme.

Qualcomm announced that its indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary, Qualcomm Global Trading, has completed its acquisition of CSR, a leading fabless provider of end-to-end semiconductor and software solutions for the Internet of Everything (IoE) and automotive segments. The acquisition, which was completed at an enterprise value of approximately $2.2 billion ($2.4 billion equity value)*, complements Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.’s (Qualcomm Technologies) current offerings by adding a compelling portfolio of new products, sales channels and a large number of customers in the areas of IoE and automotive – both key growth priorities for Qualcomm Technologies.

“It is only a matter of time before white LEDs using blue LED chips will disappear from the market,” said Shuji Nakamura at a forum on GaN technology in July organized by Nikkei Asian Review. The comment from the inventor of the blue LED chip and Nobel Laureate shocked the industry. Nakamura shares a Nobel Prize in Physics with two Japanese inventors Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano for their invention of the blue LED. Yet, Nakamura’s recent remark completely derails his previous accomplishments. Industry insiders in China try to decode Nakamura’s comments to determine whether it reflects embedded flaws in blue LEDs design, or whether his motive is to promote Soraa’s purple LEDs.