More and more countries are turning towards promoting green economies as energy shortages emerge and a growing need for diversified energy saving products arise. With the European economy stabilizing, LED luminaires have seen a boom in growth. This was evident at the Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Spring Edition) hosted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council held on April 6 to 9, 2014. 

Tomorrow night in Washington DC, EPA and DOE will honor businesses and organizations for their outstanding contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emission through energy efficiency at the 2014 Energy Star Award ceremony.

Elec-Tech released their fiscal 2013 financial report on April 27 2014. The company saw an increase in revenue for their LED business, owing to expansion in chip production capacity and further investment in NVC Lighting. 

The LED lighting market has seen a boom in growth starting in the last half of 2013. Rapid growth is attributed to price drops, government policies, and rising cost in power usage, according to investment group CLSA. These three catalysts are anticipated to drive up LED lighting penetration rate from 20 percent in 2013 to 44 percent by 2016.

This week Philips gets even more aggressive with LED bulb pricing strategies, as its new Slimstyle LED bulb prices are slashed by more than half under Energy Star rebates to less than US$ 5 in the U.S. market. Major Japanese LED players also shift towards B2B models in search of better profits. Also in the Asia market San’an Opto’s patent and production expansion strategies will hurt Taiwanese manufacturers international business strategies. Finally, in the face of Taiwan’s nuclear energy crisis, a simple transition to LED could help cut considerable energy consumption, according to TrendForce report.

Unity Opto is optimistic about long term market development for LED lighting. The Taiwanese LED package manufacturer announced its plans to acquire a factory in the Wugu Industrial Park in Taiwan on April 24, 2014. The company will invest NT $1.23 billion (US $196.7 million) in acquiring the factory to expand its lighting production line. After expanding production capacity, it is estimated that monthly production will increase from 1 million units to 3 million units. 

Storm clouds are clearing for Taiwanese sapphire manufactures as sapphire substrate industry supply and demand returns to norm after years of financial loss. The rebounding industry has brought back investor confidence, which has spurred a wave of Taiwanese manufacturers to finance market strategies to acquire technological, capital, production capacity, and market share advantages.

Leyard announced first quarter 2014 financial results on April 23, 2014. Operating revenue grew 28.43 percent YoY to NT$ 142 million (US$4.7 million). Net income attributed to shareholders was NT$10 million, up 29 percent YoY. EPS increased 16.67 percent YoY to NT$ 0.07. 

HC SemiTek’s production capacity for patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) has reached 10,000 pieces per month with a self-supply rate of more than 50 percent, said Secretary of the Board Yeh Aimin on April 24 2014. 

Philips SlimStyle flat light bulb is the second Philips 60-W EQ LED to break the US$ 5 price point, accelerating adoption of quality LEDs for the home. Energy Star rebates have brought bulb prices down to US$ 1.97 in certain areas in U.S.

U.S. city Portland has installed blue LED lights next to red traffic lights at a six-way intersection to notify cyclists their bicycles have been detected, and traffic light will be changing soon to allow them pass through, according to a Oregon Live report. 

Awarding efforts focused on everything from composting and energy conservation to lighting retrofits and weed management, UC Santa Barbara’s The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) Grant Making Committee has selected its grant recipients for the 2013–2014 funding cycle.

Sunny weather all year round is now achievable with the installation of nanoparticle LED panels developed by designer Paolo di Trapani and Italy’s University of Insubri, according to a Gizmodo report.

LED plant factories have seen substantial development in Taiwan recently, according to Apple Daily. Taking advantage of the flourishing industry, Tatung on April 23, 2014, announced their intention on entering the LED growth light market with their hydroponic vegetable business “In Fresh.” Tatung anticipates “In Fresh” to act as a new growth driver for the company. 

Zhejiang Jingsheng Mechanical & Electrical Co. (Jingsheng) has put its sapphire project into high gear as sapphire ingot prices rise. Its subsidiary factory in Inner Mongolia has already begun installing sapphire growth furnaces. 

San’an Optoelectronics (San’an Opto) has big plans to become a force to be reckoned with both domestically and internationally. The company is expanding production capacity, releasing announcements one after another, according to a Money DJ report.

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released an Application Summary Report that focuses on the bare-lamp performance of 31 linear LED lamps intended as an alternative to T8 fluorescent lamps. 

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced awards of $4.3 million for 17 projects dedicated to reducing the environmental impact of transportation in New York State. These projects are in line with the governor’s energy vision to increase support for new and innovative clean energy technologies that help reduce dependence on fossil fuels, reduce pollution and promote a cleaner and healthier environment while supporting the growth of the economy.

Displays made of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are very attractive. One of their advantages is that they can be less expensively manufactured using inkjet technology. Companies are aiming to make this process suitable for mass production — for example at AUO in Taiwan, one of the world’s leading display suppliers. 

Intermolecular, Inc. announced that Epistar Corp. and Intermolecular have signed a multi-year extension of their existing collaborative development program (CDP) and royalty-bearing IP licensing agreement to increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of Epistar's light emitting diode (LED) devices.

Japanese cinematographer Takao Inoue has transformed common dandelions into luminescent flowers using OLED technology, according to a Tamago and Spoon Report.

The following Blog post was written by Dietmar Thomas, Manager Brand & Integrated Communications OLED, for Philips Lumiblade. On April 18th, Philips Lumiblade OLEDs did boldly go where no other OLED has gone before. Space. What sounds like the famous beginning of the original Star Trek television series was indeed a big step for the most modern light source on earth.

San’an Optoelectronics (San’an Opto) released their first quarter fiscal 2014 financial results on April 21, 2014. Production capacity expansion to their LED subsidiaries as well as increased production sales volume boosted operating revenue by 30.7 percent. Government subsidies received in 1Q14 increased non-operating revenue 130 percent YoY.

Elech-Tech has further invested in NVC Lighting. Elec-Tech announced plans to purchase 6.76 percent in shares from Hong Kong listed NVC Lighting on April 22, 2014. This will bring the company’s total share to 27.10 percent, giving Elec-Tech greater influence over NVC Lighting. 

The year started off challenging for Philips, with currency impact from China and Russia and voluntary suspension of their healthcare production facility in Cleveland which resulted in flat comparable sales growth and decline in EBITA. Hoever, Lighting continued to deliver a YoY operational margin improvement. 

Cree, Inc. announced revenue of US $405.3 million for 3Q14, ended March 30, 2014. This represents a 16 percent increase compared to revenue of US $348.9 million reported for 3Q13. “Fiscal Q3 was a solid quarter as revenue and operating income were in line with our target range and the business is well positioned to grow in fiscal Q4,” stated Chuck Swoboda, Cree Chairman and CEO.

The LED street light replacement wave has swept the globe as local governments embrace the low energy consumption and financial advantage they offer. However, in the rush to jump on the green technology bandwagon, governments have overlooked the health issues that LEDs pose to the human body. British citizens have been less than keen over the recent installment of LEDs in boroughs throughout the country. 

Last Friday, LEDinside covered a Chinese article that pointed out Dow Corning filed lawsuits against Beijing KMT Technology Co over LED organosilicone glue patent infringment. The patent at stake is actually LED optical silicone encapsulants. The LEDinside editorial team would like to apologize for the misleading terminology translation. For more details on the case, please see Dow Corning’s press release below: 

Ottawa City in Canada has proposed halving electricity usage period by retrofitting current streetlights with LEDs, according to a report by The Ottawa Citizen.

Samsung Display aims to dominate the OLED display smartphone market with its OLED A3 fab expansion, according to a report by Business Korea.