Apple’s Chinese suppliers have leaked that the new iPhone 6 will begin mass production next month, reported Bloomberg. Increasing competition from other smartphone makers may have pressured the company into early production. 

United Arab Emirates (UAE) moves to ban the sale of inefficient lamps starting July 1 in an effort to reduce energy bills and carbon emission. 

China based San’an Optoelectronics (San’an Opto) has signed a three year cooperative agreement with Honglitronics on June 24 in hopes of increasing domestic market share in the LED market. 

A team of researchers at Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) have developed aluminum nitride (AlN) substrate for high power LED. The project is backed by Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affair’s Technology Innovation Center, according to Taiwanese media source Micro-Electronics on June 20, 2014. 

China Fangda Group (Fangda) announced a day earlier that it will be investing RMB 100 million (US $) to establish a new energy subsidiary to develop LED industry technologies and other new energy technologies including photovoltaics and building integrated photovoltaics applications, according to a report by China Securities Journal.

A team of researchers in Japan have developed a new technology for creating GaN LEDs on glass substrate, according to Japanese media source Nikkei Technology.

SandlerResearch.org adds LED Market in South Korea 2014-2018 new industry report in its store. An LED is a semiconductor light source used for various applications such as general lighting, back lighting, and automotive lighting. LED lighting applications include residential, office, retail, hospitality, industrial, outdoor, architectural, and others. LEDs are gaining acceptance in these applications because of their greater efficiency and low cost. 

Novagant is a holding company that acquires entrepreneurial companies that have established or are expected to establish themselves as leaders and/or successful enterprises in various market niches. Recent acquisition of property rights that have the ability to reduce costs and improve product quality for the entire cannabis market has prompted this analyst report.

In the U.S., lighting accounts for approximately 23 percent of a hotel’s energy cost. To expedite and encourage savings, Hubbell Lighting announced today a new energy efficient lighting program to cut hospitality electricity costs by 60 percent, translating to a 5.58 percent increase in profitability.

In this latest lighting project entry by Adam Burton, Social Media Manager, Zumtobel Lighting introduces a new lighting display that “dances” to music beats. Famed Korean artist Sung Wan Kim uses his installation "I will dress you, howl bowel owl" to play with the mediums of light and sound. In collaboration with the musician David Michael DiGregorio (aka dogr), Sung Wan Kim has composed an audio piece using the works of poets such as Rainer Maria Rilke as a source of inspiration. A key component of the project - the lighting - was realized in cooperation with Zumtobel.

Acuity Controls introduces xCella™ Wireless lighting controls for quick-configure control of lighting HVAC and plug load. Installed in a variety of retrofit and new construction applications, xCella Wireless energy management solutions deploy quickly for simple room control, and can also be networked for floor or building wide control. Featuring innovative Pair & Play™ technology, xCella Wireless switches, sensors, and load controls are operational in minutes. xCella Wireless can be delivered pre-paired and packaged by room for even faster installation and reduced commissioning costs.

Power management company Eaton today announced that the McGraw-Edison TopTier™ light-emitting diode (LED) parking garage/canopy luminaire and the Metalux SkyBar™ high bay luminaire from its Cooper Lighting Division have been named winners in the 2014 LFI Innovation Awards® at LIGHTFAIR International (LFI® ). Presented at the LFI conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 3, the competition features the industry’s most innovative products and designs introduced during the last 12 months.

Stouch Lighting, a lighting distributor specializing in LED and energy efficient lighting, announces the completion of an exterior LED lighting retrofit project for Kaiserman Company at their Kevon Office Center located in Pennsauken, New Jersey, projected to save the company over $3,600 per year in lighting energy costs.

Each year, the Progress Committee of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) solicits the lighting industry for product submissions. Accepted products are featured in the committee’s Progress Report at the IESNA annual conference and published in the IESNA’s publication, LD+A. The Progress Committee selects products that represent advancements to the art and science of lighting.

Soccer fans long anticipated 2014 Brazil World Cup games has taken the globe by storm. Many fans might have noted the LED ad displays decorating the 12 stadiums at Rio de Janeiro. The displays are actually the works of Chinese manufacturer Aoto Electronics.

A bureau under Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs announced Tuesday, LED bulbs in the country will be required to undergo mandatory tests starting next month, according to a CNA report.

People in Chicago will soon see metal fixtures wrapped around light poles in several areas throughout the city this summer. They are not decoration however, but data-collection sensors. 

Chinese LED manufacturer Leyard Optoelectronic (Leyard) is showing ambition to expand in the European market with its latest funding round, according to a Shanghai Stock Information Service report.

Philips Lumileds continues to develop new products to satisfy the ever changing needs of the LED industry. LEDinside had the opportunity to speak with Philips Lumileds Sr. VP of Sales & Marketing Emmanuel Dieppedalle, Sr. Director of Marketing and Business Development Ray Chock, and VP of APAC Sales Alvin Tse during the Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition 2014 last week to discuss the company current situation and future outlook.

Chinese LED manufacturer Tanlong Photoelectronics (Tanlong) announced the resignation of two executives during a board meeting on June 23, 2014.

As lighting consumption continues to increase, solid state lighting will become a major driving force for LED lighting growth that is expected to grow for several years, said Micheal Schmitt, Regional Marketing Director at Osram during LEDinside’s LEDforum at Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition (GILE) on June 11, 2014.

Silicon Valley Venture Capital firm Sequoia teams up with Austrialian based smart lighting start-up LIFX with a US $12 million investment. The investment bumps up LIFX’s total funding to US $16.6 million. 

The most common kind of light bulb in the United States—the incandescent—is only about 5 percent efficient. The phosphorescent organic light-emitting diode, on the other hand, makes light out of 100 percent of the electricity that goes into it.

In cooperation with Dr. Peter Schmidt of Philips Technologie GmbH in Aachen, a team of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schnick, who holds the Chair of Inorganic Solid-State Chemistry at LMU Munich, has developed a new material for application in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). “With its highly unusual properties, the new material has the potential to revolutionize the LED market,” says Schnick. The two teams report their results in the latest edition of Nature Materials.

The new lighting system will be in place for the coming campaign with the club moving in line with Premier League requirements for a higher level of light output. 

HiLumz USA LLC (formerly Lumax Systems LLC), a U.S. manufacturer of LED Lighting and Retrofit Solutions announced today that production of its 2nd Generation Diamonz® Retrofit Kits has begun in the United States. Designed to retrofit commercial and industrial 100 Watt to 1,000 Watt light fixtures, HiLumz customers keep their existing fixtures and simply replace the bulb and ballast with an LED solution. Primary applications for the 40 Watt to 360 Watt LED retrofit kits include lighting of parking lots, street lights, warehouse high bay fixtures, wall packs, garage and gas station canopy lights and commercial flood lights. Virtually 95% of the high intensity light fixtures in use today are candidates for the Diamonz LED retrofit.

VOLT® Lighting announced today the addition of a new line of energy-efficient integrated LED Recessed Lighting . These LED fixtures are designed to replace existing incandescent or halogen bulbs and the recessed reflectors and rings that house them.

Leading Taiwanese LED chip manufacturer Epistar acquired bankrupt Taiwanese blue-ray CD and LaserDisc manufacturer Optodisc factory for NT $836 million, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report. Epistar plans to expand AlInGaP and InGaN LED production at the new factory site.

GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT) is reportedly using the US $578 million received in prepayment from Apple to expand sapphire production through establishing an additional facility. This new facility will produce roughly 20 million sapphire displays per year on top of the 200 million estimated from earlier reports, said Analyst Matt Margolis via BGR. 

The Brazil World Cup 2014, which officially kicked off on June 13, 2014 at São Paulo is entering climax. This year’s game has taken an interesting turn, since the last World Cup champion Spain was knocked out of the game. Sixty four years have elapsed since soccer nation Brazil hosted the global sports event. Although, the Chinese soccer team was disqualified from the World Cup this year, Chinese-made LED displays have successfully earned “front row seats” to the world’s top sports event.