Sapphire substrate application has come a long way from the original usage in military applications in the 1960’s. This year alone has seen some major shifts in application with Apple’s new integration of sapphire substrate into smartphone design. While LEDs and general lighting continue to make up a major chunk of sapphire substrate market share, non-LED application usage has had a dramatic increase this year. Increasing penetration rates for LEDs and rise in non-LED applications, the next few years look bright for sapphire substrate market growth. 

GT Advanced Technologies Inc. announced plans to offer $125,000,000 aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2020 (the "Notes") and 12,000,000 shares of its common stock ("Common Stock") in concurrent underwritten registered public offerings (collectively, the "Offerings"). In addition, the Company expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $18,750,000 aggregate principal amount of Notes and 1,800,000 shares of Common Stock from the Company, respectively. The Offerings are subject to market and other conditions.

When NC State sought a lighting solution for Wolf Ridge at Centennial, the university’s first residence hall planned for LEED Silver certification, they chose industry-leading LED lighting from Cree, Inc. to help the building achieve the rigorous certification and significantly reduce energy and maintenance costs. Luminaires installed in two of the project’s six buildings are already delivering positive results. Powered by Cree TrueWhite® Technology, the luminaires deliver the industry’s best color quality, creating more inviting and better lit environments for student residents while significantly reducing the school’s operational expenses compared to outdated lighting technologies.

Finnish photographer has been creating spooky images with light for four years, ever since he accidently discovered the medium. Janne Parviainen uses only a camera and a child’s LED torch to create his uniquely creepy photographs.

Plessey announced today availability of its next generation GaN-on-Silicon mid-power LEDs. The product family doubles the efficacy of Plessey’s first generation MAGIC™ (Manufactured on GaN-on-Si I/C) products released in February 2013. Using standard silicon semiconductor production techniques, Plessey is able to achieve high flux output LED products at substantially lower cost. The PLW114050 is the first in a family of entry level LED lighting products that will be released. 

Power management company Eaton announced that its Cooper Lighting division has introduced the highly efficient McGraw-Edison TopTier™ parking garage and canopy luminaire. Incorporating WaveStream™ light-emitting diode (LED) technology, the fixture’s superior, patented optical control and patent-pending design improves visual comfort to enhance safety while providing maximum energy savings of up to 76 percent annually.

Larson Electronics is making it easier than ever for companies or families who want to begin the transition to LED lighting with their 10 watt Directional LED light bulb. When replacing burned out bulbs to LEDs, or direct replacement, the new Magnalight LED-A19-10-E26 will save you time and money.

Light is an essential element for urban environment, it also represents the culture and image of a city. In order to emphasize on the importance of urban lighting plan, LUCI started running the annualcity.people.light awards in conjunction with Philips Co. in 2003. The 2013 award is the 10th anniversary of this award so we compile all the winners in its history for you to take a quick and amusing glance.

Around 50 companies are expected to be listed on the Chinese bourse by the end of January, according to a statement by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on November 30th in regards to further promoting the reform of the IPO system. Among these companies, three LED companies are in the electronics industry IPO. The LED industry will be affected by the reopening of the IPO, where prospects will remain bearish in the short term while differentiating in the mid and long term, according to industry insiders.

LED technology has made great leaps in 2013. As LED prices continue to fall, large LED manufacturers are focusing on packaging process and material to develop low cost technologies. “Package free technology” has no doubt become the most important technological breakthrough this year that has surprised the industry. Unistars has been using advanced wafer package technology, Chip Scale Package (CSP). The company has released its new CSP series product Mercury 1515 series, and is the first Taiwanese LED packager to mass produce CSP products.

The danger of blue light exposure has been a hot topic in the LED industry as of late. This has overshadowed the energy-efficiency and environmental friendliness that LED lights are known for and has prevented them from becoming more widespread.

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released a Snapshot Report on LED A lamps, which utilizes the LED Lighting Facts® program's extensive product database to help industry stakeholders understand the current state and trajectory of the market for that class of products.

The largest single investment to modernize main road street lighting in the Capital's history has been unveiled by the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL).

It is no surprise with LED lighting demand on the rise that Samsung Electronics would want to begin strengthening their LED business. According to Business Korea, Samsung has begun recruiting LED professionals on December 1st both domestically and internationally.

Luxury car brands including BMW, Benz and Audi are using more advanced lighting technologies in their cars, such as LED headlights, smart high beams, and infrared-assisted lights to give them a better technological edge and justify their hefty price tag, according to a recent Bloomberg report. 

The Rainforest of Canada's pacific coast lights up for the holidays with the illuminated Capilano Suspended Bridge Park.

Cree, Inc. marks another milestone in LED lighting with the introduction of the new Cree® LED 75-watt Replacement Bulb. 

Excessive heat generation is one of the main reasons why LEDs fail. With the Oslon Square, Osram Opto Semiconductors presents an LED that withstands high ambient temperatures particularly well. To ensure that the colors of several LEDs in a luminaire remain uniform even at higher temperatures, they are measured and binned at 85 degrees Celsius (°C), a temperature that comes very close to that encountered in lighting applications within buildings, in everything from spotlights to retrofit light sources.

Dow Corning, a global leader in silicones, silicon-based technology and innovation, today introduced new Dow Corning® Dispensable Thermal Pads, an advanced new technology developed for more cost-effective thermal management of high-performance electronics targeting LED lamp and luminaires, data servers, telecommunications equipment and transportation applications. The new materials enable manufacturers to quickly and precisely print a layer of thermally conductive curable silicone compound in controllable thicknesses on complex-shaped substrates while ensuring excellent thermal management properties and reduced manufacturing cost.

EV Group (EVG), a leading supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, has introduced the EVG®720 automated UV nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) system. Providing full-field imprint lithography with an integrated soft stamp/template fabrication capability, the EVG720 system enables throughputs of more than 60 wafers per hour with the lowest cost of ownership (CoO). Capable of printing nanostructures as small as 40 nm in diameter over a large area in volume production, the EVG720 system is ideally suited for use in manufacturing optics, photonics, LEDs, and other bioMEMS devices. 

Penetration rate in 2013 for low priced direct-view type LED TVs has already increased to around 50 percent. As 2013 comes to a close, various large brand TV manufacturers are already preparing to launch new models in 2014.

The First Prize Winner of city.people.light Award 2013 is Rietburg, Germany; there are some excellent cities which also did great lighting masterplans and were rewarded prizes. In the second article of the city.people.light award series, we are offering you a glance on these exceptional cities.

The LED industry has been stuck in a oversupply situation for the past few years but 2014 will finally see the first light to equilibrium. The supply shortage situation is expected to reemerge in 2014 brought on by rising LED lighting demands, stable backlight demand, and limited production capacity expansion by LED chip manufacturers, according to a recent report from UBS. Long term orders from OEMs for large lighting manufacturers Philips and Osram will benefit non-Chinese LED chip manufacturers.

Nichia Corp. of Japan announced that it has filed a new complaint in its multinational patent infringement dispute against Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd.of Taiwan. In an amended complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on November 22, Nichia accuses Everlight, Everlight’s subsidiaries Everlight Americas, Inc. (“Everlight Americas”) and Zenaro Lighting, Inc. (“Zenaro”), and Zenaro’s distributor Zitroz LLC of infringing four Nichia patents regarding light-emitting diodes (“LEDs”).  

Osram, one of the two globally leading light manufacturers today announced the appointment of Terry O’Neal as Chief Executive Officer of Osram’s Solutions Business Unit and Traxon Technologies Ltd. He succeeds Mike Mastroyiannis, who is leaving the company on November 30, “Terry is an excellent choice to lead Osram’s solution business“, stated Peter Laier, Osram’s Chief Technology Officer and executive board member responsible for the company’s general lighting business.

Cree, Inc. announced the appointment of Norbert Hiller as Executive Vice President Lighting, effective immediately. Hiller brings more than two decades of commercial and operational LED lighting leadership to his new role. Hiller has served as Cree’s Executive Vice President LEDs since October 2011.

GE’s Immersion™ RV60 LED lighting system offers grocery and convenience store owners the next generation of energy-efficient refrigerated display lighting to help lower energy costs while enhancing the visual appeal of merchandise.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) published NEMA BL 3-2013 Dimming Ballast Energy Performance. This standard provides a methodology for applying existing test methods for program start ballasts to fluorescent dimming ballasts. It also provides a method to calculate ballast luminous efficiency (BLE) for fluorescent dimming ballasts.

CRS Electronics Inc. is pleased to announce closing of a $1 million loan financing from CJL Holding Inc., a corporation related to Mr. Chang Jiang Wu, the Company's Executive Chairman. The loan is evidenced by a non-interest bearing unsecured promissory note repayable on or about December 31, 2013 through the issuance of 5 million common shares of CRS at an issue price of $0.20 per share.

Lighting Science® announced it ranked No. 204 on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and clean technology companies in North America. Lighting Science grew 512% over the past five years and has established itself as the leader in health and wellness lighting technology and solutions.