At the Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition (GILE) 2014 this week, smart lighting solutions takes the show grounds again. Other interesting trends in outdoor, retail and commercial lighting can also be seen at the show as manufacturers aim to add value to lighting products. Many reports are coming out of China this week regarding to industry subsidies as the country plans to channel more financial resources into the area to meet carbon emission reduction targets. Apple’s sapphire applications also catch headlines this week, as GTAT appears to scale up sapphire production, and iWatch’s adoption of sapphire watch covers goes official. For more info please see below:

With LightFair coming to a conclusion in Las Vegas this week, and the upcoming Guangzhou International Lighting show, there has been an avalanche of new products released on the market. Some products worth noting include Cree’s three way LED bulb, GE’s new Energy Star certified 100W equiv. LED bulb, Seoul Semiconductors Acrich 3, Dow Corning’s new silicones and much more. For the first time we are categorizing the product section to make it easier for readers to find products their interested in.

This week, Osram announced a new LED assembly plant in Wuxi, China. The new plant will expand the company’s backend LED capacity as well as boost their presence in the world lighting market. Additionally, lighting market demand growth has spurred LED chip market demand to further increase, resulting in expanded market size, according to the latest LEDinside report. India’s LED industry could become the next big market player as the new prime minister pushes for cleaner energy, bringing massive opportunities to the LED industry.

This week our website got a makeover! Out with the old and in with the new for 2014. Lighting Japan 2014 has taken center stage this week, drawing more than 10,000 visitors. This year’s expo was the largest ever, comprising of three specialized shows. Designers, buyers, and visitors all flocked to the exhibition which ran from Jan.15-17 at Big Sight Tokyo. In addition, manufacturers have released their latest financial reports this week.