SEMICON Taiwan 2018 was held at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center on September 5 -7. Many leading equipment manufacturers have joined the event including Aixtron, Veeco, Kulicke & Soffa, MPI Corporation and Toray. These equipment makers have introduced the latest trends of power components and optoelectronic. 

SEMICON Taiwan 2018 International Semiconductor Exhibition was held during September 5 to 7 at TWTC Nankang Exhibition Hall. As the second largest SEMICON exhibition worldwide, it gathered 680 manufacturers with more than 2000 booths, reaching a new record high. Major equipment manufacturers were present, including Aixtron, VEECO, Kulicke & Soffa and MPI Corporation. 

A secondary school in Scotland has joined a pilot project of deploying innovative LiFi, which transmits wireless data through LED lighting.

LED packaging company Everlight has announced revenue of NT$2.21 billion (US$ 71.69 million) for August, up by 9.26% MoM and down by 5.83% YoY. 

Sensor Electronic Technology, Inc. (SETi) announced that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against two companies, Bolb and Quantum Egg (Q-egg), in the U.S. District Court in California, accusing them of selling UV LED sterilizer products which infringe LED patents of SETi. 

Japanese LED giant Nichia Corporation (Nichia) is to introduce the new 585 series of mid power LEDs, including the NF2W585AR and the NF3W585AR. With high flux output at approximately 0.5W, the 585 series achieves the industry’s highest efficacy.

The market scale of LED lighting has continued to grow with the driving forces from the emerging market and the transition of traditional lighting to LED lighting. The expanding market has attracted many companies to join, leading to escalating competition and sliding profit. Many LED companies have thus decided to quit their lighting business or to reorganize their strategies. 

The development of Micro LED technology has been a focal point in the industry with worldwide manufacturers continuously reporting their progress and revealing new breakthroughs and applications in 2018. Many leading brands have showcased or launched their latest Micro LED technologies and applications. As the third quarter of the year will soon end, LEDinside has collected the updated Micro LED applications released until now and would like to share the integrated information with the readers. 

Play Nitride has showcased several RGB Micro LED full color displays for automotive applications at SEMICON Taiwan 2018. The company has presented its capability of Micro LED chip production and mass transfer with its unique PixeLED Display technology. 

The German based research institute, the Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology, has developed OLED elements that can be integrated into textile. The development will be presented at the Electronics System Integration Technology Conference (ESTC) 2018 from September 18 – 21, 2018 in Dresden, Germany.

According to the latest research report of LEDinside “2019 Global LED Video Wall Market Outlook - Cinema, Rental Market and Price Trend,” the market scale of global LED display is expected to reach US$ 9.349 billion by 2022 with a CAGR of 12% during 2018 to 2022. Meanwhile, the market scale of indoor fine pitch display is forecasted to reach up to US$ 1.997 billion with a YoY growth of 39%. 

Osram Opto Semiconductors has provided its IR LED and LED components to Joyson Safety Systems, a U.S. based mobile safety system provider, on its steering wheel to develop a semi-autonomous system to the new Cadillac CT6. The steering wheel equipped with the IR LED can monitor driver’s behaviors to ensure safety. 

LiteOn Technology announced that its revenue of August came to NT$18.59 billion (US$ 603.73 million), up by 20% MoM and down by 0.15% YoY. 

Taiwanese LED manufacturers announced that the shipment of LED backlight products has contributed to their revenue in 3Q18. LED chip maker Epsitar said the orders for blue LED backlight and four elements LED have grown. Meanwhile, LED vertical integration manufacturer Lextar revealed its escalating revenue for August. 

Japan-based DOWA Electronics Materials reported its achievement of IR LED by developing short-wavelength-infrared LED chips with a high output power at 6.8 mW with a peak wavelength of 1,300 nm, which is 3.5 times higher when compared to the existing products. 

  The latest research report of LEDinside “2019 Global LED Video Wall Market Outlook - Cinema, Rental Market and Price Trend,” indicated that the market scale of global LED display is expected to reach US$ 9.349 billion by 2022 with a CAGR of 12% during 2018 to 2022. Meanwhile, the market scale of indoor fine pitch display is forecasted to reach up to US$ 1.997 billion with a YoY growth of 39%. 

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Nubia has unveiled a wearable smartphone at IFA 2018. The wearable smartphone, named Nubia Alpha, has adopted a flexible display so the screen can wrap around the wrist. 

Chinese LED packaging company Nationstar has demonstrated its Mini LED applications at Display International, Touch Taiwan and announced its plan to sell its subsidiary at the latest conference call on September 5th.

An old tunnel in South Korea has been transformed into a vertical farm lit with LED growing lights to grow vegetables and fruits as an approach to solve issues caused by the extreme weather and shortages of agriculture land and labor, reported Associated Press. 

Kulicke & Soffa, a Singapore based semiconductor equipment provider and Micro LED startup Rohinni have announced the launch of an advanced placement solution for Micro and Mini LED, PIXALUX™. 

MOCVD equipment provider Veeco has announced that the company will make a change in its executive leadership team. The current Chairman and CEO John Peeler will become Executive Chairman, and the current President, William J. Miller, will take the role of CEO and join the company’s board of directors. Moreover, Shubham (Sam) Maheshwari will be named COO while continuing his current role as CEO. 

Mini LED has entered the market with manufacturers continuously reporting the launch of new products with Mini LED applications in the past few months. Meanwhile, the industry does not intend to stop the progress of Micro LED development. Chinese LED chip maker Sanan Optoelectronics will build its Micro LED epi-wafer and chip production, according to industry sources. 

Seoul Semiconductor has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Texas, USA, against Fry’s Electronics, a U.S. based retail company of consumer electronics. Seoul Semiconductor has accused Fry’s Electronics of selling LED TV products which infringed Seoul Semiconductor’s LED patents.

The Taiwanese research institution, ITRI, has participated in IFA, the tradeshow for consumer electronics and home applications held in Berlin, Germany, to demonstrate its innovative technology applications. ITRI has introduced several intelligent living products including Companion Robots, Pesticide Residue Detection Technology and an Intelligent UV Direct Drinking Water Sterilizer.

Signify has transformed from a luminaires supplier into an intelligent lighting system provider, offering solutions for lighting systems and services. Its “Friends of Hue” program has demonstrated an ecosystem to intensify the connections of the company and other international and interdisciplinary partners for expanding smart lighting network. 

HLJ Technology Co, a Taiwanese VCSEL epitaxy and chip producer has ordered AIXTRON’s MOCVD sets to increase its wafer capacity and its epitaxial wafer size production line for VCSEL. 

At Display International, Touch Taiwan 2018, numerous display technologies and innovations have been introduced to give visitors a peek of their potential applications in the near future. Taiwan-based technology R&D institution ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute) has exhibited its most updated transparent displays embedded with interactive functions.

Canadian automotive components supplier Magna and Micro LED startup Rohinni have announced to form a joint venture for producing thin and flexible Micro LED lighting solutions for vehicles. 

With the market of Mini LED display thriving in the second half of 2018, LED driver IC company Macroblock has been preparing its technologies and capacities for Mini LED displays.

To increase the viewing quality of displays, optical films and polarizers were added onto displays and many companies have demonstrated their advanced optical films and polarizers at Touch Taiwan 2018.