The latest report by LEDinside, a division of TrendForce, revealed that the global average price of 40W-equivalent (equiv.) LED light bulbs arrived at US$10.6 in December 2015, down 1.6% from November. The global average price of 60W-equiv. LED bulbs for the same month also dropped 0.7% to US$14.5.

In part one of these series, LEDinside explored Philips, Osram and Cree’s vertical integration strategies. In the second part of this series we will take a closer look at major Chinese LED companies MLS and Elech-Tech International’s (ETI) vertical integration strategies.

Upheld as the classical business models in the LED industry, Dutch lighting giant Philips and leading German lighting manufacturer Osram business models have been the most discussed among market insiders. The two European companies vertical integration models are considered textbook cases in the industry. In contrast, many Chinese manufacturers have adopted a strategy of diversification in the industry, with the exception of ETI that has been diligently following the vertical integration creed. Since absorbing Guangdong Jiang Longda (健隆達) in 2009, through various investments ETI has been able to gradually piece together its missing links throughout the LED supply chain. The company has become a fully vertically integrated company with a comprehensive supply chain incorporating LED chips, LED packages and lighting products.

Apple’s latest software update iOS 9.3 has built in blue light reduction features to make it easier for users to sleep at night, according to a Mac Rumors report.

Researchers combine the warm look of traditional light bulbs with 21st-century energy efficiency. Traditional light bulbs, thought to be well on their way to oblivion, may receive a reprieve thanks to a technological breakthrough. Incandescent lighting and its warm, familiar glow is well over a century old yet survives virtually unchanged in homes around the world. That is changing fast, however, as regulations aimed at improving energy efficiency are phasing out the old bulbs in favor of more efficient compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) and newer light-emitting diode bulbs (LEDs).

Leading Dubai-based AV and IT specialist, Almoe Group - which operates across the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and India - have invested in 100 Chroma-Q Color One 100 premium performance colour-changing LED PAR fixtures for their busy rental inventory.

STG Aerospace, the pioneering aircraft cabin lighting company, is delighted to announce that Icelandair has selected its next generation saf-Tglo® SuperSeal UltraLite® (SSUL) photoluminescent floorpath lighting  for its 767 aircraft, becoming the first 767 operator for this newly certified system.

While LED manufacturers are bringing more and more high power COBs to the market like Lumileds COB 1216, Citizen’s CLU550, Cree’s CXB3590 and Bridgelux’s Vero 29, MechaTronix announces their new CoolBay® high bay cooler program. The CoolBay® is a passive round cooler based on the patented CoolTube® quadruple closed-loop heat pipe structure, which makes it the most compact design on the market cooling down up to 35.000 lumen. The CoolBay® comes in 2 power platforms, The CoolBay® Giga up to 22.000 lumen in a diameter of 152mm and the CoolBay® Tera up to 35.000 lumen in a diameter of 192mm. These sizes are specifically chosen to match the design with the diameter of the round high bay coolers from Mean Well, the HBG series.

The fifth IEEE Photonics Society Optical Interconnects Conference, whose roots trace back to the original 1990 Workshop on Interconnections within High Speed Digital Systems, seeks to facilitate the collaboration required to drive new interconnect architectures and technologies from concepts in research labs to commercial realities. The conference covers the complete spectrum of high performance interconnect challenges in network systems, architectures, applications, subsystems, and devices. The crucial role that any interconnect strategy plays can only be fully realized when optimized at the system level. This is particularly so in large future peta- and exa-scale platforms in datacenters and supercomputers. So we look forward to the participation of system architects, programmers and everyone researching the interconnect role in a more self-aware next generation platform. With the launch of the US Integrated Photonics Institute for Manufacturing Innovation, we are particularly interested in exploring how new developments in integrated photonics will impact optical interconnects and next generation systems.

Thinnest, Lightest, Narrow Bezel, High Efficiency ˜ Long life time of 30,000hrs ˜ No flicker, low EMI glareless ˜ High luminous efficiency, no ultraviolet and no infrared ˜ Available dimmable & non-dimmable panel light

By replacing traditional luminaires with LEDs, India could save US$ 6 billion annually by 2018, said Piyush Goyal, Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy in the Government of India.

What do astrophysics, telecommunications and pharmacology have in common? Each of these fields relies on polarimeters — instruments that detect the direction of the oscillation of electromagnetic waves, otherwise known as the polarization of light. 

The Optical Society (OSA) has announced that Dr. Gregory Quarles has joined The Optical Society as Chief Scientist. In this position, Dr. Quarles is responsible for the scientific infrastructure of the society. This includes content development for OSA incubators, annual meetings and the establishment of partnerships with research laboratories around the world. Quarles is a globally recognized leader for his strategic partnerships with the federal government, industry and academia, as well as his innovative work in the progression of global materials research, specifically developing new laser devices for medical, military and industrial applications.

U.S. football team Miami Dolphins’ home stadium, Sun Life Stadium, will become one of the leading NFL football stadiums in the country to replace traditional lights with LEDs, reported Miami Herald.

Anne Kustner Haser, president and design principal at Anne Kustner Lighting Design (AKLD) in Evanston, Illinois started her professional career as a graphic designer, but quickly fell out of love with graphic design in favor of lighting design. Perhaps this decision was influenced by the way some photographers she worked with utilized lighting to instill excitement into an otherwise ordinary product. Or, maybe it was an instinctive aptitude that Anne displayed while arranging lighting throughout her house as a young teenager. Even more so, it could have been the influence of her supportive family and especially her encouraging father, who himself was involved in electrical engineering. Since that fateful decision, and after opening her own lighting design studio 21 years ago, Anne has created stunning lighting environments for a unique blend of commercial, hospitality, and high-end residential clients that allow their individual personalities to shine through.

Pioneer is demonstrating a very nice looking transparent OLED automotive brake system. The idea is to embed this unit in the vehicle's rear window - so it is transparent and allows for a greater field of view, but when you press the brakes it emits a bright red light:

Dell today announced at CES 2016 an expanded selection of Latitude commercial devices that combine industry-leading security, manageability and reliability features business customers demand with the stunning design, InfinityEdge display and premium materials employees crave. Adapted from the company’s successful line of XPS consumer devices, the new additions across the Latitude and UltraSharp display lines represent the most comprehensive commercial products redesign in company history and demonstrate Dell’s commitment to delivering an unmatched experience to satisfy and impress today’s mobile business professional.

As the UK's biggest ever fully-funded LED lighting retrofit, the project will see 90,000 new lights installed across the bank's UK estate of 800 branches and 13 office buildings – slashing energy use in half and reducing carbon emissions by more than 7,000 tonnes each year.

Hisense, the multinational consumer technology manufacturer and one of the largest television brands in the world took the stage at 2016 International CES to announce the Company’s largest foray into the U.S. market to date, and to demonstrate innovations in display technology across the television, connected home and medical industries.

The 2016 Next Generation Luminaires™ Outdoor Competition officially launched in mid-December! Online Intents to Submit are due on January 18, 2016, and the judging event will take place in March.

A lot of new products and electronic gadgets have been released on the market following the start of CES 2016. One of the interesting trends observed from the latest product releases has been the growing usage of OLED backlight products in laptops and displays, LG Display, Samsung, and Dell have been a couple to release OLED-screen devices.

U.S. UV LED manufacturer, Sensor Electronic Technology, Inc.(SETi), is selling deep UV LEDs to the Chinese market to extend the life of fresh product on store shelves, reported Fresh Plaza recently.

From their use in telecommunication to detecting hazardous chemicals, lasers play a major role in our everyday lives. They keep us connected, keep us safe, and allow us to explore the dark corners of the universe.

Smart lighting solutions are carving out their place in ever more living rooms. When it comes to smart homes, Osram has already demonstrated its innovative capacity in the past with its smart lamps and luminaires in the Lightify series. Now Osram is carrying on with the first smart LED lamp controlled by the Thread network protocol and is presenting it at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

Orion Energy Systems, a leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance, energy-efficient retrofit lighting platforms, today announced a Fortune 500 packaged food company selected Orion fixtures for its new multimillion-dollar production line expansion in Waterloo, Iowa.

Gooee, the world’s first ‘full-stack’ lighting ecosystem provider, is unveiling its new technology via a fully interactive demonstration at its stand at the International Consumer Electronics Show 2016 (CES).

LED usage for automotive front lighting applications is increasing dramatically, pushing projected LED driver demand to 120 million units by 2020. Headlights, daytime running lights, clearance lights, fog lights, and turn lights are all examples where LEDs are now commonly used due to their power, cost and size benefits. A new LED driver from Cypress Semiconductor is making LED front lighting systems smaller and more cost effective.

Innovations in Optics launches it next generation LumiBright™ 3300B UV-LED Illuminators for Digital Light Processing (DLP) applications such as 3D printing, maskless lithography, prepress digital imaging, phototherapy, and refractive surgery. DLP and the DLP® logo are trademarks of Texas Instruments. The UV-LED technology offers more reliable and economical advantages over lasers and arc lamps in UV DLP systems. High optical power over 20W matches the power output of fiber-coupled laser diode bundles at lower cost.

Striving to deliver superior service and value to its customers, DECO Lighting has invested in a Near-Field Measurement System from Radiant Vision Systems. DECO will incorporate the advanced measurement tool into its research and design process, enabling the company to further innovate and test its cutting-edge LED fixtures in-house. This move to acquire an in-house testing system demonstrates DECO’s commitment to a customer-first approach and will allow the company to accurately test fixtures under various conditions and generate photometric data files to address the needs of its customers, ranging from lighting designers to architects and contractors. The system will also serve to validate test data received from third-party testing labs.

Dialight, the innovative global leader in LED lighting technology, today announced the launch of its new Vigilant® LED Dual Red/White Strobe with Infrared (IR) obstruction lighting system. The Dual IR flash head and systems are approved through Intertek to the FAA AC 150/5345-43G and Engineering Brief No. 67D standards, with the addition of the IR LEDs to the standard red night operation to enhance visibility and safety for pilots, including those who utilize Night-Vision Goggles (NVGs).