In order to know what oversea buyers consider the biggest obstacles they face when sourcing from China, we surveyed over 100 professional international buyers over the past several months and asked them “What is your biggest procurement challenge when buying in China?” It turned out that amongst the most frequent answers, such as quality control issue, supplier relationship management or product certification issues, the top rated one are all supply-chain related challenges. 

According to the latest report from LEDinside, a division of the market research firm TrendForce, 2017 Chinese Automotive Lighting Market Report, the conventional passenger car in 2016 in China hit 22.50 million cars and by 2017 the number is expected to have reached 23.80 million with a hike of 5.8% YoY. The market was mainly under the control of joint ventures before 2016, whereas after 2016 the sales of domestic automobile brands rose annually when Chinese automakers advanced their production quality. The passenger car market is anticipated to increase with more and more ...

Chinese M&A boom has faced regulatory hurdles and crackdown at home and abroad. According to the latest report by global law firm Linklaters, as many as one third of Chinese overseas M&A deals by value were cancelled in 2016.

LEDinside, a division of TrendForce, reports that the global average sales price (ASP) of 40-watt equivalent LED replacement light bulbs came to US$6.8 this February, down 0.6% from the prior month. As for 60-watt equivalent counterparts, their global ASP in the same month stood at US$8.2, dropping 2.1% from January.

As LED market penetration rate continues to increase, global LED market growth has slowed down in recent years. In China, domestic LED chip manufacturers have exceeded a dominant 70% market share. In addition, global companies have increased their packaging capacity in China. It is expected that Chinese LED packaging manufacturers will continue to expand production capacity in 2017.

Due to recent pollution crackdown by Chinese authorities, the steel industry in China has halt production and undergone consolidation, leading to a dramatic price surge in steel products. As a result, prices of LED chip and packages have also increased, further resulting in a price hike in LED end products.

Big Chinese smartphone brands bullish revenue growth targets for 2016-2017 could cause oversupply of unsold phones, warned a Morgan Stanley analyst.

Laser diode is a next generation lighting technology incubating in Shenzhen, China, giving hope that the region will emerge as a leading international laser lighting player soon.

Early in May, Luxlite, Epistar's sole distributor in China, has sent out an announcement of price adjustment, listing a number of reasons for price increase, including continuingly increased raw materials and manpower costs.  （Official announcements from Luxlite, Smalit and Rishang regarding the rise of LED package price） Chinese LED chips manufacturers San’an Opto and HC Semitek followed suit Epistar’s lead in raising LED chip prices, which was considered as an early sign of recovery from the heated price war since 2014. Major...

China’s LED lighting market value will surpass RMB 500 billion (US $72.45 billion) by 2016, said Ling Wu, the Secretary General of China’s International Solid State Alliance (ISA).

New technology revolutions and industry evolutions are creating opportunities, developments in China and internationally are undergoing metamorphosis that are reshaping industry developments, said Jianlin Cao, a former Vice Minister of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).

Growing number of Chinese smartphone makers are raising investments in OLED panels, including BOE Technology Group and six other major local players have constructed new factories and invested in total more than 2 trillion Japanese Yen (US $9 billion), reported Nikkei Asian Review.

Xiaolan, a small town with a population of 157,000 residents located in Guangdong Province in Southern China has seen its LED industry market value balloon in a short span of 8-years, reported Zhongshan Daily.

Jiangxi Luye Auto Lighting launched the first automotive lighting LED module plant in Nanchang Optical Valley in China, reported Xinhua.

Did a boycott of Chinese products on India social media websites cause the sharp decline of LED bulb imports? A movement launched on Indian social media platforms during the annual lighting festival Diwali on Oct. 31, 2016 resulted in a 30% to 50% revenue decline of energy efficient lights and LED bulbs in Mumbai.

Philips Lighting, a global leader in lighting, and Xiaomi, the mobile internet company, today signed a joint venture agreement for smart home lighting in China. The companies have joined forces to design and develop connected LED luminaires and lamps for Xiaomi’s wireless smart home platform, including apps for controlling the lights both via Android and IoS-based smartphones. 

Quantel Laser announced the opening of a new service center in China at the offices of their long-time partner, Titan Electro-Optics (TEO). The service center, inaugurated at a gala grand-opening ceremony in Beijing on October 24, 2016, will provide local service to all Quantel customers in China. Local service will be available at the company’s Beijing headquarters as well as in Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Foxconn and its newly acquired Japanese subsidiary Sharp might be making OLED panels for smartphone makers in China by 2019, a Nikkeireport cited those familiar with the matter saying.

Refond Optoelectronics recently announced its board members approved two proposals including the termination of its subsidiary in Dongyuan city in Guangdong Province, China, and forming a joint venture with foreign investors.

iView  and Forth Dimension Displays Limited (ForthDD) have entered into an agreement to develop, manufacture and sell Structured Light Projectors (SLPs). SLPs are a key component of 3D automated in-line optical inspection (3D AOI) equipment which is rapidly replacing 2D AOI in printed circuit board (PCB) manufacture. The ability to use 3D AOI to measure components in all three dimensions, on every PCB in real time, enables companies to improve yields and product quality while reducing wastage and costs.

Osram is putting the G20 Summit in China, which will take place on September 4 and 5 in Hangzhou, in the right light. High-quality lighting solutions from the Munich-based lighting specialist will be in use in the Congress Hall where representatives of the twenty most important industrial and emerging nations will be meeting. They will also be used to illuminate various outdoor areas. Osram has supplied the hosts with several hundred spotlights and spotlight lamps. High, mid and low-power LEDs from Osram Opto Semiconductors are integrated in luminaires from the Chinese manufacturer Roleds. 

In an environment of intense price wars, nothing can grab LED manufacturers attention more than "price hikes." Chinese LED manufacturers MLS, Kinglight and other manufacturers all raised their product prices in March 2016. Another wave of price hikes occurred in May, when San’an Opto and Taiwanese LED manufacturer Epistar increased prices. Recent market rumors point towards another round of price upticks.

Chinese manufacturers technology have advanced in the past year to result in large GaN price fluctuations, and have entered III-V EPI-wafer synthesizing industry to build a comprehensive IoT and telecommunication supply chain in the upstream sector.

Major iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry, or also kn0own as Foxconn Technology Group announced the Chinese government finally gave it the green light to approve Japanese conglomerate Sharp for US $3.5 billion, reported Nikkei Asian Review.

Nichia’s patent infringement suit filed against the world’s third largest TV vendor TCL Multimedia (TCL) and subsidiary TTE Technology (TTE) on Aug. 8, 2016, is a significant move to prevent unpatented Chinese LED chips from entering U.S., said LEDinside analysts.

Smart industries and intelligent living were the main themes of the 2016 China (Chengdu) Smart Industry International Expo that kicked off Wednesday, according to a MoneyDJ report.

Nobel Prize in Physics laureate Shuji Nakamura, who was lauded by The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences as the Edison of 21st Century, recently noted laser diodes would eventually replace LEDs in lighting applications within the next decade at a fair in China last month, reported China’s LED Patent Alliance (LPA).

China’s LED industry produced 296.3 billion LEDs during first half of 2016, up 19.21% Year-on-Year, reported China Light Industry Internet (CLII).

Diminishing size of the annual Guangzhou International Lighting Fair in China was first observed in June 2015, but the extent of the shrinking fair accelerated in 2016. Despite fewer international companies displaying their products at the annual show this year, it still attracted a large number of visitors. In the LED industry where large manufacturers are constantly switching businesses, staying or leaving the industry are all market strategies to embrace market changes. LEDinside had the opportunity to interview Pang Yen Liu, General Manager Production Business Group Sales and Marketing Greater China of EVERLIGHT at the show recently.

The scale of China’s LED package industry grew just 2% annually to US$8.8 billion in 2015, according to the 2016 Chinese LED Chip and Package Industry Report by LEDinside, a division of TrendForce. The weak performance of the Chinese LED industry last year was mainly attributed to the global economic slowdown.   LEDinside analyst Allen Yu said the market is showing some signs of rebound this year as branded lighting vendors have been restocking their inventories, thereby generating demand and boosting the capacity utilization of LED chip suppli...