Semiconductor Energy Laboratory (SEL), Advanced Film Device (AFD) (a subsidiary of SEL) and Nokia developed OLED displays that can be folded into two or three, according to a latest report by Nikkei Technology.

With LightFair coming to a conclusion in Las Vegas this week, and the upcoming Guangzhou International Lighting show, there has been an avalanche of new products released on the market. Some products worth noting include Cree’s three way LED bulb, GE’s new Energy Star certified 100W equiv. LED bulb, Seoul Semiconductors Acrich 3, Dow Corning’s new silicones and much more. For the first time we are categorizing the product section to make it easier for readers to find products their interested in.

TCL’s subsidiary China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) recently announced plans to begin mass producing OLED panels by 2016. 

With display screens in mobile phones and camera module pixels increasing, demand for brighter flash LED has grown. Global flash LED shipment volume reached 1.03 billion units in 2013, according to a report by LEDinside. It is anticipated that shipment volume will grow to 2.07 billion units by 2018. Revenue for flash LED in 2013 hit US $561 million and is anticipated to reach US $764 million in 2018. 

LEDforum 2014, organized by LEDinside, Cnledw.com and Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition, will be held on June 11, 2014. Top executives from the first-tire international manufacturers like Philips Lumileds, Osram, Samsung, Seoul Semiconductor, Toyoda Gosei, LED chip giants such as Epistar and Sanan Optoelectronics, China leading LED enterprises like Honglitronic, Refond and MLS Lighting will be invited as speakers, dissect the current situation of LED industry on the theme of LED market trends and the development strategy, to create an audi...

Computex 2014 Taipei opened its doors this week to an astounding 130 million or more visitors. As the largest ICT trade show in Asia, it is the perfect opportunity for manufacturers to display their newest technology innovations and concepts. Fabless semiconductor company Marvell Technologies did just that, exhibiting their newest suite of solutions which included Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, smart LED controls, fifth generation SATA solid state disk (SSD) controller, 4G LTE mobile devices, and more. 

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation and National Institute for Materials Science today announced that the Patent Court of Korea rejected an appeal by U.S.-based Intematix Corporation contesting a patent for red phosphor owned by MCC and NIMS (Korean Patent No. 816693) — a material used extensively in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). 

Nichia Corporation (Nichia) has filed yet another patent infringement against Everlight Electronics (Everlight). The Japanese company recently filed legal action against the Taiwanese company’s customer Arrow Electronics Australia in the Australian Federal Court for infringing on Nichia’s YAG patent (Australian Patent No. 720234). 

In today's extraordinary meeting the supervisory board of OSRAM Licht AG has, in agreement with Dr. Peter Laier (45), approved the termination of his appointment as a member of the managing board of OSRAM Licht AG effective 30 June 2014. 

The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the global chip-on-board (COB) LED market will be just over 40 percent through 2018, according to analyst firm Research and Markets. Dow Corning, a global leader in silicones, silicon-based technology and innovation, expects the continued expansion of enabling materials technologies, such as moldable optical silicones, to help fuel growth in COB packaging and other innovations along the entire LED lighting value chain.

While the global recession that began in 2008 slowed the growth of the construction market in Asia Pacific, the region’s buildings sector remains the most dynamic in the world. Since buildings account for a large portion of national energy consumption, most of the governments in the Asia Pacific region have taken steps to promote energy management and energy efficiency in both new construction and existing buildings.

The commercial airport lighting market is segmented and sub-segmented on the basis of airport application areas, technology and region. The market is broadly segmented into three segments, namely, landside, terminal and airside. It considers segmentation of the market by technology namely, LED (Light Emitting Diode), Incandescent and Fluorescent. These technologies are further divided by the application areas.

Ladies that fancy a manicure might be getting more than just colorful designs in the near future. A U.S. design project is aiming to outdo Japanese manufacturer Takara Tomy Arts decorative stick-on LED nails by taking nail art to the next digital level.

LED demand in China has seen a significant increase, driving up sapphire substrate demand for five consecutive months, according to financial firm UBS. 

The lighting industry in China is not short of standards, but emerging new standards in various regions is seriously wasting resources. “China has put too much focus on LED product standards, while overlooking basic standard systems,” said Chen Yansheng, President of China Association of Lighting Industry. “This has been the root of confusion within the Chinese lighting industry.” 

The lighting industry is a large, global and yet fragmented market place. The fragmentation is driven both by technology differentiation and customer need diversity. The technologies vying for market share include incandescent lamp, compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), halogen lamp, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and, most recently, organic light emitting diodes (OLED). The target markets are also very diverse, each serving different needs and demanding different price points. These markets include;

LED lighting penetration is rapidly increasing, according to Economic Daily News. It is estimated that after LED lighting popularizes by 2017, it will be succeeded by smart lighting. Industry insiders anticipate that the prosperity period will be longer than before, with LED chip manufacturers Epistar and LED package manufacturer Everlight being the largest beneficiaries. 

Flourishing development in automotive lighting has grabbed the attention of many LED manufacturers. Last week, Taiwanese LED manufacturer Everlight announced that it has already secured orders from large European and Japanese automotive manufacturers. It is the first Taiwanese manufacturer to break out of the after-sales market and ship directly to automotive manufacturers. 

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released Report 21.3, which is part of a series of investigations on linear LED lamps. Report 21.3 details a set of life-cycle cost simulations that compared a two-lamp troffer using LED lamps (38W total power draw) or fluorescent lamps (51W total power draw) over a 10-year study period. The LED lamps were assumed to produce similar light output and light distribution when mounted inside the troffers, an assumption that was reasonable for less than a third of the products tested for this series of reports, but that may be more widely achievable in the near future, as SSL products advance.

Flexible OLED could be an integral part of wearable devices in the near future, according to plastic electronic specialist Plastic Logic. The company will exhibit the world’s first fully organic transistor at the SID Display Week this week in California. 

Contrary to popular marketing notions, a recent poll by Leapfrog Lighting, places quality as a highly significant factor in choice of LED bulbs. With 82.5% of business owners rating quality of light as extremely important or important, energy savings, environmental benefits and lower cost of ownership are no longer the decisive factors in a buying decision. Only 5.8% of those polled indicated quality was "not important."

Digital Lumens and Xicato today announced a strategic partnership to bring wireless intelligent solutions to professional indoor applications, drive adoption, and lower the cost of ownership of energy efficient, smart lighting.

L.J. Star Inc., a supplier of sight glass lighting, has released a new white paper that discusses the results of a study used to determine which color temperature of white light is best suited for illuminating the interior of stainless steel process vessels. A good view is essential for observing the characteristics of the process medium and for verifying process steps such as clean-in-place. 

LEDinside research team has published three reports this week one on the sapphire for LED application market in China, the LED commercial lighting sector, and also on manufacturers outlook for the year. A report also sheds light on the shady replacements made to LED components that have enabled the cheap LED prices in China. In the Taiwan market, UPEC Electronics announces its withdrawal from the LED package business. Emcore and Nichia also finally arrive to an agreement over LED patent infringements. For more please see below:

As the Dragon Boat Festival approaches in China on June 1, 2014, the market has entered a new luminaire discount season, according to a report by Chinese-language media Kyushu Building Network. Top luminaire brands have all increased prices because of rising raw material and logistic costs. However, since lighting products are not daily commodities most consumers have been less sensitive towards incremental price increases. Some industry experts project prices will be up as much as 10 percent next year.

LED luminaires in the Chinese market might see a glimmer of hope for larger market shares as Compound Fluorescent Light (CFL) prices soar, according to a report by Chinese-language media Kyushu Building Network.

LED package manufacturer Everlight has been actively developing their LED lighting brand, according to the Economic Daily News. The company merged with Germany luminaire manufacturer WOFI for less than NT $400 million (US $13.3 million) last year, which adds an extra NT $100 million to its monthly revenues. Everlight has recently announced plans to acquire another European luminaire manufacturer this year to continue expanding the company’s market presence. 

Nichia Corporation (“Nichia”) and Emcore Corporation (“Emcore”) reached an agreement to settle a patent infringement lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, in which Emcore acknowledges the validity of the USP 7,295,587, and makes a payment to Nichia for past damages and for royalties in the future.

GE Lighting and ByteLight today announced they will showcase the next generation of LED lighting fixtures that communicate with shoppers’ smart devices while in-store, enabling retailers to provide exciting new location-based services using GE LED infrastructure. The innovative solution featuring GE’s Lumination™ LED Luminaire - IS Series is being unveiled at LIGHTFAIR® International 2014 (LFI®) in Las Vegas, June 3-5, in GE Lighting’s booth #4208.

What sets the Chinese LED luminaire market apart from others? It all really boils down to prices. The product’s technology, lifetimes, and warranty are all nothing more but a floating mirage. Buyers will always choose the cheapest LED luminaire, but should not expect manufacturers to willingly lose money by making acceptable quality products at these prices. Below is a comparison between LED bulb and ceiling spotlights to illustrate the manufacturing costs involved.