Heliospectra announced that a Swedish vertical farming company, Ljusgårda AB, has placed a SEK 1.3 million (US$ 143,552) order for LED lighting solution of Heliospectra.

Lite-On Technology has reported a revenue of NT$15.5 billion (US$506 million) for July with a decrease of 21.05% MoM and 11.49% YoY. 

Tridonic has launched a new flexible linear LED module, LLE FLEX IP67 EXCITE, which can be installed in moisture-prone environments with its water and dust protection feature. 

LED vertical integration manufacturer Lextar Electronics registered a revenue of NT$ 950 million (US$ 31 million) for July, up by 4.3% MoM and down by 15% YoY. The company said it has adjusted its product portfolio by radically reducing the share of general lighting products and targeting customized LED lighting modules and high power LED for special applications.

Lighting companies have released updates about their financial results and reported their outlook for the second half of 2018.

The UK based company, Plessey, has announced its partnership with B-Four Agro, a Dutch lettuce grower, to provide its growing lights to a new greenhouse owned by its subsidiary company, B4Hydrogrow B.V, which measures 29,000 square meters.

In order to expand the surge protection device product line, MEAN WELL is releasing new surge protection device with high performance, SPD-10-320S. 

The prices of mainstream LED package products remained stable in the Chinese market for July 2018, says LEDinside, a division of TrendForce.

By donating its solar lanterns to the refugees’ shelters in Bangladesh, Signify has helped to enhance the living conditions for more than 22,000 families so far. 

Tridonic Jennersdorf, a subsidiary of Tridonic and a member of the Zumtobel Group lighting group, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the German company, Ingram Micro Distribution. 

The price of blue LED chips has dropped to almost half compared to the price last year, putting a great pressure on many manufacturers. The price of 4-inch wafer has fallen from US$ 22 in 1Q17 to around US$ 15 in 1Q18. As the cost is about US$ 15, the decrease of price could lead to deficit for LED chip makers.

As one of the most important display shows of the industry, Touch Taiwan will take place during August 29 – 31 in Taipei, Taiwan. Manufacturers of the supply chain including LED chip, panel, driver IC and end-product applications will gather at the event to demonstrate their innovative technologies as well as to discuss the development trend of the industry. Micro LED, considered to be the next generation display technology, will be a spotlight of the event.

MEAN WELL Releases New LED Driver: ELG-100U/150U Series, 100W~150W Universal Input Constant Voltage + Constant Current LED Driver

In the past few weeks, the LED industry has been active with several worldwide leading brands reporting their financial results of the second quarter and the first half of 2018 as well as big names announcing news of company reconstruction. LEDinside highlights the news for our readers to quickly follow up the industry updates. 

Veeco Instrument released the financial results for its second quarter of 2018. Its revenue has grown by 40.64% YoY to US$ 157.8 million, with Non-GAAP operating income of US$ 11 million and EPS of US$ 0.15. With GAAP, the company had a net loss of US$ 237.6 million or US$ 5.02 loss per diluted share. 

Under the pressure of price competition and oversupply in the LED industry, LED producers worldwide have been devoting their efforts in organization transformation and reconstruction as well as focusing on innovative technologies. The development of Mini LED and Micro LED has been viewed as the new opportunity for LED firms. LEDinside has estimated that the revenue of Micro LED and Mini LED will reach US$1.38 billion by 2022.

Unity Opto, a Taiwan-based LED packaging company, has announced the issuance of up to 120 million shares for private placement as approved by its shareholders to introduce strategic partners. The Taiwanese OEM Wistron, reported its investment in Unity Opto through its subsidiary, ArFlex.

Panel makers in Asia have been struggling with the oversupply of LCD products and have reported profit drop in the second quarter of 2018 compared to last quarter and last year. 

Signify launched its “interact Hospitality” system which provides smart management and services to hotels and guests. Swissôtel The Stamford in Singapore has become the first hotel to commercially implement the system and to provide smart services to its guests.

A culture center and museum in Iceland has recently transformed with the luminaires from Altman lighting to more sophisticatedly transmit the stories and legacy of Thorbergur Thordarson, an Islandic writer and the region of Suðursveit in South-East Iceland. 

Phoseon Technology, the U.S. based UV LED solution provider, is going to exhibit its latest UV LED curing solutions for adhesive applications at Touch Taiwan 2018 in Taipei, Taiwan. 

Many LED manufacturers have prepared themselves when entering the peak quarter of a year. Taiwanese LED chip maker Epistar has also reported the increasing demands from the market for four-element LEDs, LED backlights and Mini LED applications. 

Macroblock has showcased several displays adopting its new ICs at 2018 Macroblock LED Display Conference. The company is also ready to welcome the peak quarter of the year with its shipments of various products.

Taiwanese LED chip maker Opto Tech has reported a steady growth of 8% YoY in the second season of 2018 and expects a better performance in the second half of the year with its new capacity completed. 

Samsung Electronics announced its financial result for the second quarter of 2018 at KRW 58.48 trillion (US$ 52.05 billion) with a decrease of 4% YoY. The operating profit was KRW 14.87 trillion (US$ 13.23 billion), up by 6% YoY.

Diodes Incorporated released a new series of automotive LED drivers to simply the driving of low-power lighting. The BCR4xxUQ series is designed to provide a total solution for automotive applications including puddle lighting, side markers and internal lighting covering ambient lights, instrument clusters and button backlighting.

In September 2010, Nichia Corporation (“Nichia“) started a patent infringement lawsuit in Germany against Taiwanese LED manufacturer Harvatek Corporation (“Harvatek“) concerning Harvatek‘s white LED products

Osram has reported its financial result of the third quarter of its 2018 fiscal year* and announced the company’s plan to divest its luminaires business and to save cost for the coming years. 

Osram announced on July 31 that the company decided to initiate the sale of its luminaires business and to strategically focus on the high-growth market.

Cities worldwide are preparing themselves to enter the new age of IoT (Internet of Thing) through the installation of smart streetlights and the capital of Taiwan, Taipei is no exception. Taipei city has been working with Everlight, the Taiwanese LED package giant and LED lighting producer, to replace the conventional streetlights with LED smart streetlights and to integrate with different solution providers for constructing a smart city for the future.