Apple fans might be slightly disappointed to note the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 launch date might be pushed back to 2015, according to an Apple Insider report.

A video released by Chinese media Apple Daily shows rumored Apple iPhone 6 sapphire phone cover withstanding coin and key scratches, and does not deform when bending. The phone cover even emerges unscathed after being forcefully thrown to the ground, and being roasted by a lighter. It took a 1.6-ton car to break the cover to several dozen pieces.

With Germany taking home the World Cup 2014 trophy this year, Simon Greenwood, Commercial Director Europe at GE Lighting shares in this blog entrry some lighting techniques adopted for the stadiums.

Located in the heart of downtown Belo Horizonte, Brazil, the newly constructed office building Edificio Renaissance features a stunningly lit façade. In a city without much architectural façade lighting, the modern yet simple illumination of Edificio Renaissance makes a statement.

The LEDinside editorial team has released our July edition feature, discussing in-depth the impact of the two biggest mergers in the industry so far this year: Epistar and Philips Lighting. 

Global shipment proportions for Chinese TV brands are increasing yearly, with the possibility to reach 28 percent in 2014, according to the latest China LED Package Industry Market Report from LEDinside, a division of research organization TrendForce. Six Chinese TV brands will benefit the most from domestic demands in 2014. LED manufacturers beginning to pay more attention to opportunities in this market segment due to low in-house LED production capacity of Chinese TV brands and low strategic alliance among LED manufacturers. The supply chain for Chinese TV brands has started to change. Once reliant on Taiwanese and Korean LEDs, Chinese package manufacturers is starting to change as price competition heats up and technology matures. 

While the LED industry was still reeling from news of Epistar’s acquisition of FOREPI, Philips dropped another bomb shell, announcing the merger of its LED component and automotive lighting assets on June 30, 2014. 

The merge between Taiwan’s top LED chip manufacturers Epistar and FOREPI will no doubt be remembered as one of the most significant events in the LED industry in 2014. Market rumors about the two companies potential “marriage” first surfaced in 2007, but has been repeatedly denied by Epistar. The company’s last minute press conference announcement about the merger on June 30, 2014 sent shockwaves throughout the industry.

LED chip manufacturer Genesis Photonics Inc. (GPI) announced that June revenue reached NT $397 million (US $13.2 million), down 5.82 percent MoM, but growth of 27.54 percent YoY. Revenue for 2Q14 was NT $1.2 billion, up 10.68 percent compared to 1Q14. 

It has been reported that Apple has been granted new three new sapphire glass related patents from the U.S. Patent Trademark Office (USPTO) on July 8, 2014. Discovered by AppleInsider, the three new patents cover a method to strengthen weak areas in sapphire display covers, application of sapphire to illuminate buttons, and embedded product details under a sapphire layer. 

China based Elech-Tech’s Yangzhou subsidiary has begun mass production of LED wafers. Equipment used at its Yangzhou factory are mainly 14x4” MOCVD wafer production units from U.S. manufacturer Veeco. The company currently has 12 units in operation with a yearly production capacity of 190,000 pcs, which can then produce 50,000 chips. 

China based Jufei Optoelectronics released their 2014 half year performance report on July 10, 2014. The company estimates net income available to stockholders to reach around RMB 76.57-97.88 million (US $12.3-15.7 million), up 25-50 percent YoY. 

The U.S. Department of Energy's Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium (MSSLC) has released the first updated version of its Model Specification for LED Roadway Luminaires. A “living document” that's updated as needed to reflect changes in technologies and associated standards, and to incorporate feedback from users, the model specification enables cities, utilities, and other local agencies to assemble effective bid documents for LED street lighting products.

ThedaCare™​ health system selected outdoor LED lighting from Acuity Brands, Inc.​ to address safety, energy and maintenance concerns at two of its leading campuses. Sixty high-performance D-Series LED luminaires from Lithonia Lighting®​ were installed in parking areas to replace 84 existing high-pressure sodium (HPS) and metal halide (MH) fixtures, delivering a projected annual energy savings of more than $40,000.  

ColorStars Group (CSTU) together with its subsidiary Anteya Technologies were awarded a street lighting project in Taiwan. The project is to retrofit a 9 kilometers long roadwith new LED street lighting system in the township of Yangmey of Taoyuang County. A total of 574 LED street lights will be installed and each street light is composed of 2 pieces of 120-Watt cobra head LED street lights and 2 pieces of 30-Watt reflective LED spot lights. The total value of the project is $45,172,600 New Taiwan Dollars or $1.5 million US Dollars. ColorStars' scope of supply is about US$1.0 million. The project will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Precision-Paragon [P2] announced the release of the DLC QPL listed SNL; an ultra-efficient LED sealed sanitube for food service and food processing applications. In recent years, the manufacturer has established a reputation for releasing carefully engineered lighting fixtures designed and manufactured in the United States.

KC HiLiTES announces the availability of the new KC Gravity LED series lights powered by KC’s patented Gravity Reflective Diode (GRD) technology. The KC Gravity LED series launches with 3 product offerings:

The two German high-tech companies temicon GmbH and holotools GmbH join forces to expand their product portfolio in the area of micro and nanotechnologies. In the future they are going to operate under the corporate roof of temicon, continuing the well established brand “holotools” as their trademark for laser interference lithography. Both companies have been working together successfully over many years using complementary technologies in the production chain of high-tech components for optical, medical, solar and environmental applications.

Sandia National Laboratories has come up with an inexpensive way to synthesize titanium-dioxide nanoparticles and is seeking partners who can demonstrate the process at industrial scale for everything from solar cells to light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

The LED industry has entered into a period where penetration rate is rapidly increasing each quarter. Consumers continue to purchase traditional lighting products in large volumes, but distributors have begun reducing the proportion of products for sale. Manufacturers are facing saturated orders and rising lighting order visibility.

Chinese manufacturer Refond Optoelectronics (Refond Opto) released their 2014 half year financial report on July 9. The company estimates net income available to stockholders for the first half of the year to reach RMB 19.64-23.56 million (US $3.2-3.8 million), YoY drop of 10-25 percent. 

Australian Cleantech innovator, BluGlass Limited, has announced today that it has been successful in demonstrating the best ever p-GaN light output using its propriety technology, Remote Plasma Chemical Vapour Deposition (RPCVD) on an MOCVD partial LED structure. This result is greater than a 10 fold improvement in LED efficiency over the first p-GaN demonstration data published by the company in December 2012, when the same measuring methodology is applied. 

Royal Philips has provided a gift of Philips LED solar powered lighting to the village of Thanh Son in Vietnam. The donation, which is improving the lives of villagers who have been in darkness for 30 years, is part of the ‘Philips Gift of Light’ - an internal engagement initiative in which Philips employees nominated and voted for projects around the world deserving of a Philips gift of light. During the coming months, projects will be implemented by Philips employees in 17 countries.

Dialight announced a new low profile LED linear luminaire for use in applications requiring greater clearance levels.  Impressively, this new linear is nearly 60% slimmer than previous versions and delivers up to 7,000 lumens at 106 lumens per watt.  With its reduced profile and weight, the new linear is even easier to install, and its new through wiring capability opens new applications previously unavailable.

Ever since its commencement in 2001, Artworth has been at the forefront of LED sign and display R&D, design, engineering and production. Based in the heart of Shenzhen, the manufacturing hub of China, the LED lighting solution provider is doing a remarkable job in offering innovative and credible LED commercial lighting solutions to its humongous client base scattered across the globe. Dedicated to the cause of its clients to the core, Artworth has set benchmarks in customer services. 

Epistar reported good revenue performance in June, benefitting from high backlight and lighting demands, according to the China Times. Consolidated revenue in June reached NT $2.82 billion (US $94.2 million), increase of 0.85 percent MoM, making it the fourth consecutive month with record high revenue. Lextar performance in June was equally good, hitting a single month high of NT $1.36 million. FOREPI reported revenue of NT $500 million in June, up 4.36 percent MoM. 

Lite-On Technology Corporation reported a combined revenue of NT $20.24 billion (US $676.35 million) for June 2014, up 3 percent MoM, and growth of 18 percent compared to the same period last year. Lite-On core products maintained growth on the back of rebounding end market demands and increased market share. Consolidated revenue from January to June this year was NT $110.2 billion, up 14 percent YoY. 

Taiwanese manufacturer Advanced Optoelectronic Technology (AOT) announced the company has been listed as of July 9, 2014, according to the Economic Daily News, with the backing of two strong parent companies which include Hon Hai and Nichia. AOT poses a threat to Taiwan based rival Everlight. It is estimated that Everlight’s net income will reach NT $5 per share this year, while AOT’s will approach NT $6 per share. 

China based San’an Optoelectronics (San’an Opto) released their 2014 half year (Jan. 1, 2014 to June 30, 2014) financial report, announcing a net profit of RMB 648 million (US $104.6 million), up 40 percent from RMB 462 million in the first half of 2013. 

The LED industry remains optimistic despite faltering macroeconomic growth for LED products. ”LED prices will drop around 20 percent this year. Semiconductors and automotive lighting will become the most profitable sectors within the lighting industry,” said Dr. Ke Zhang, Director of Business Development and Government Affairs, Asia Pacific at Osram.