Serenity LED, a leader in the LED lighting industry, has announced that they have hired a new chief executive officer, Anthony Bianco. Bianco, the former president of Supreme Lobster & Seafood, has emerged from retirement to take over business development and day-to-day management of Serenity LED.

A state backed power company NamPower rolled out a city wide project covering the replacement of 1 million incandescent bulbs with LEDs, and to reduce household power consumption in Nambia capital Windhoek, according to a report from Creamer Media’s Engineering News.

Material manufacturer Merck announced it has invested EUR 30 million (US $33.84 million) in an OLED materials plant in Darmstadt, Germany recently to manufacture future displays and lighting.

The U.S. Department of Energy has just published the latest edition of its biannual report,Energy Savings Forecast of Solid-State Lighting in General Illumination Applications, which models the adoption of LEDs in the U.S. general-lighting market, along with associated energy savings, based on the full potential DOE has determined to be technically feasible over time. The new report uses an updated 2016 U.S. lighting-market model and extends the forecast period to 2035 from the 2030 limit that was used in previous editions.

The Qualcomm Smart Campus in San Diego is upping its IQ with the addition of smart, digital sensing technology from Current, powered by GE. GE and Qualcomm Intelligent Solutions, a subsidiary of Qualcomm Technologies, today announced that Current’s sensors, microservices and intelligent LED infrastructure will help drive more energy efficiency, operational savings for Qualcomm’s award-winning Smart Campus, all while extending the company’s existing intelligent environments showcase for visiting customers.

Name of Product: ZapBulb mosquito zapper LED light bulbs Hazard: The light bulb's base can separate from the connector, posing an electrical shock hazard. Remedy: Replace

BIOS (Biological Innovation and Optimization Systems) has entered into an academic partnership with Bruce Bugbee, PhD, Professor in the Plants, Soils and Climate Department and Director of the Crop Physiology Laboratory at Utah State University (USU). The partnership will combine Dr.Bugbee’s world-renowned expertise and research in plant physiology and photobiology with the industry-leading LED grow lighting technology development by BIOS.

Power management company Eaton today announced a collaboration with CIMCON Lighting, Inc., a company specializing in intelligent, web-based wireless outdoor lighting management systems. The collaboration combines Eaton’s broad range of outdoor light-emitting diode (LED) luminaires with CIMCON’s intelligent, wireless controls, sensors and software to bring powerful connected lighting solutions for smart cities.

Revolution Lighting Technologies, a leader in advanced LED lighting technology solutions, announced that its divisions, TNT Energy and Tri-State LED, have been named as program contractors within Eversource's Small Business Energy Advantage Program (SBEA). As part of the Energize Connecticut initiative, the program is designed to help small businesses with a peak energy demand of less than 200kW per month save money, identifying and offering cost-effective energy efficiency turnkey solutions.

Chinese companies Leyard, Kingsun Opto and Cnlight announce their latest developments.

To encourage innovative internal and external ideas, Osram has created a captive business accelerator called Fluxunit. In taking this step, Osram has set up a flexible company unit outside its established structures that will promote new and disruptive business ideas. At the same time, Fluxunit will serve as the central point of contact for external and internal start-ups. 

Osram intends to transfer some of the funds it earmarked for a LED chip fab to making IR LEDs for iris-scanning applications as demands from bankers, smartphone makers and VR systems rise, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Xcel Energy has started to roll out a large scale LED streetlight upgrade in Minnesota to cut back energy consumption, reported Startribune.

These days, LEDs are increasingly being used as replacements for traditional lamps and other electronic appliances. This makes sense, since lighting in general is responsible for up to 20% of the world's electricity consumption. As a result, it has become even more crucial to develop advanced LED materials and technology that produce more light while maintaining efficiency and reliability. In many ways, Taiwan is a leader in the LED industry, since it consistently places at the top of global rankings for LED component output value, while continuing to introduce leading-edge technological advancements.

In the green energy sector, solar, wind, and lithium batteries prices all plummeted, which has disrupted markets and transformed existing market orders, leading to new developments.

The last phase of China’s incandescent bulb ban will be effective as of Sept. 30, 2016. China will ban the imports and sales of 15W and above general incandescent bulbs Starting from Oct. 1, 2016, and will make adjustments based on interim evaluation results, reported Yicai Global.

The Supervisory Board of SUSS MicroTec AG has appointed Dr. Franz Richter (61) as a new member of the management board of SUSS MicroTec AG. His contract will run for a period of three years. Richter accepted the appointment to the management board as of today and he will assume his position as new CEO on September 7, 2016. Richter on the one hand stands for continuity in the strategic orientation of the SUSS MicroTec Group and on the other hand for innovation and technological leadership.

Lextar’s revenue in August 2016 rose 13.1% monthly to NT $1.18 billion (US $37.63 million), reported UDN.com.

Opple Lighting and Huawei signed a HiLink Protocol Smart Home Partnership Agreement at the Shanghai Expo Center on Aug. 31, 2016.

Korean manufacturers Samsung and LG are raising R&D investments in developing QLED displays, reported The Korea Times.

About 64% of Indian consumers do not know how to get their hands on government subsidized LED bulbs, a survey by citizen engagement platform LocalCircles revealed.

Philips has unveiled a 55-inch 4K OLED TV at IFA 2016 that it has coined 901F TV, reported the Verge.

Royal Philips announced the appointment of Sophie Bechu as Chief of Operations and Executive Vice President. Sophie Bechu, who joins Philips as of September 1, 2016 from International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), becomes a member of Philips’ Executive Committee and reports directly to Philips CEO Frans van Houten. Sophie Bechu succeeds Pasquale Abruzzese, who left Philips in May of this year for personal reasons.

Veeco announced that it has received an order to deliver the 25th GENxplor™ R&D Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) System to Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology based in Haifa, Israel. Introduced in August 2013, the GENxplor system is the number one selling R&D MBE system to universities and research institutions.

Huawei and Leedarson signed a strategic cooperation agreement on its largest annual conference in Shanghai expo center. They will work together to create a more market competitive ecosystem based on the principle of “equality and mutual benefit, Win-Win together”.

GE Lighting CEO Bill Lacey announced in an internal memo to employees that it will be withdrawing from Asia and Latin America Markets as of Nov. 30, 2016, reported China Association of Lighting Industry (CALI).

The Chicago-based Energy Resource Center has donated LED bulbs to Colorado Springs in U.S., reported KRDO.com.

Epistar, a leading innovator and manufacturer of LED solid-state lighting technologies, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Adamax Inc.(d/b/a Newhouse Lighting) in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on August 30, 2016. The complaint asserts that Newhouse Lighting products and technology infringe six Epistar patents and seeks injunctive relief to halt the further sale of the infringing Newhouse Lighting products.

Technology innovation group and LED manufacturer Lighting Science today announced the appointment of Ute Besenecker as Senior Scientist and Director of their HealthE™ Lighting product line. Besenecker comes to Lighting Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), where she recently earned both a Ph.D. in Architectural Sciences and Master of Science in Lighting. In her new role, Besenecker will assume primary responsibility for managing Lighting Science’s innovative HealthE lighting portfolio, which will include both commercial and industrial applications of the company’s patented Awake & Alert®, GoodNight®and DynaSpectrum™ lighting technologies.

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.