On Dec. 21, 2016, SemiLEDs Corporation (the “Company”) selected BF Borgers CPA PC (“BF Borgers”) as its new independent registered public accounting firm. The decision to engage and appoint BF Borgers as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm was approved by the Audit Committee.

ETI forecasted losses incurred from operations would peak to RMB 100 million for the fourth quarter of 2016, stated the company in a press release.

China Development Bank (CDB) and San’an Opto group signed a strategic partnership agreement Thursday in southern province Xiamen to propel the Chinese LED company’s global sales strategy and rankings.

A recent Nikkei Asian Review report claiming Innolux would be scaling back LCD supplies to competitors because of Foxconn group policy was refuted by the LCD panel subsidiary recently.

Taiwan’s LED industry production value increased nearly 15% year-on-year during the first nine months of 2016, as more governments around the globe rolled out policies supporting environmental friendly businesses, said the Ministry of Economics Affair (MOEA) recently.

Even though Japan Display has temporarily solved its fundraising deadlock with the aid from a state-backed company in the OLED panel sector, the outlook remains uncertain and there are still challenges ahead before mass production, reported Nikkei Asian Review.

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

Leading Japanese LED chip manufacturer Nichia announced today it had won two separate YAG LED patent disputes against Everlight subsidiaries in the Düsseldorf Court of Appeal in Germany.

MLS (also known as Forest Lighting) announced Tuesday, the company will be pumping in another RMB 500 million (US $71.95 million) in a subsidiary of Chinese LED chip manufacturer Aucksun Opto to expand in the upstream LED sector.

Cree, a leader in LED lighting, announced that it has reached a confidential settlement in its patent infringement and false advertising lawsuit with Feit Electric Company. The settlement ends U.S. International Trade Commission ("ITC") investigation No. 337-TA-947 (“Certain Light-Emitting Diode Products and Components Thereof”) against Feit and its Asian supplier, Unity Opto Technology and the corresponding lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.

The sapphire substrate application industry hit a low point when Apple abandoned employing sapphire screens in its new generation iPhones, many Taiwanese sapphire manufacturers have bear the brunt from the abrupt decision, reported Chinese-language newspaper Commercial Times.

Large LED companies are increasingly turning to strategies focused on filing patent infringement lawsuits against competitors, Korean LED giant Seoul Semiconductor has become the latest company to take legal action against 29 firms worldwide for infringing backlight, filament, LED chip and package patents, reported Business Korea.

Andreas Weisl (38), former Vice President Europe of Korean LED manufacturer Seoul Semiconductor (SSC), has taken on the position of CEO at Seoul Semiconductor Europe GmbH based Munich, Germany, with effect from Nov. 11, 2016.

Veeco Instruments announced  that OSRAM Opto Semiconductors GmbH has completed an agreement naming Veeco as the supplier for Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) and Precision Surface Processing (PSP) systems needed for high-volume LED production in Kulim. As part of the agreement, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors has ordered multiple TurboDisc® EPIK®700 Gallium Nitride (GaN) MOCVD, and WaferStorm® 3306 PSP Wet Process systems.

Revolution Lighting Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVLT) ("Revolution Lighting"), a global provider of advanced LED lighting solutions, today announced that it has recently completed LED retrofit projects for religious facilities within New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland, totaling US $800,000. This includes the comprehensive LED lighting retrofit, led by its distributor GB Energie LED, of the Southern Friendship Missionary Baptist Church ("the Church") facilities, based in Temple Hills, Maryland.

Dinos Café, a popular old-fashion American diner located in Bloomingdale, Illinois replaced their outdated 250 watt HID lights on their rooftop with weather resistant, vibrant, state-of-the-art color changing 30w Serenity LED floodlights. These LED floodlights are remote-controlled with 32 different color options and are part of the Serenity LED Rainbow Series. Serenity LED, a U.S. based innovative lighting company, manufactured these LED Floodlights and used a US Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business to install the lights.

After halting trade on the Chinese bourse for four consecutive months, Kingsun Optoelectronics recently announced its Hong Kong subsidiary will be acquiring China’s leading international education enterprise NIT Group for RMB 2.9 billion (US $41.76 million)

The Baker-Polito Administration today announced US $11.4 million in grant funding opportunities to help cities and towns across Massachusetts convert traditional streetlights to LED technology through the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) Rapid LED Streetlight Conversion Program. DOER has partnered with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC), Energy New England (ENE), and four Municipal Light Plant (MLP) communities to administer the grant funding to municipalities that currently own their traditional streetlights and expedite streetlight conversions.

The Odisha Government will supply energy efficient LED tube lights and ceiling fans at subsidized rates, said state government Energy Secretary Rajesh Verma.

 David Errigo, vice president of sales for luminaire manufacturer LumenOptix, has been elected chair of the National Lighting Bureau (NLB), the independent, not-for-profit, lighting-education foundation sponsored by professional societies, trade associations, manufacturers, utilities, and agencies of the U.S. government.

Foxconn subsidiary Sharp will no longer be supplying LCD panels to Samsung Electronics starting in 2017, a report from The Japan Times cited industry sources saying.

Higher living standards in the modern world has transformed luminaires from a simple light source, to a lighting device that provides mood setting ambient lighting, visual stimulation, create a comfortable environment lit with soft light beams. These developments are making secondary optic designs in luminaires increasingly important, Taiwan-based Chung Kuang Optics (CKO) which specializes in the art of lighting designs, assisted manufacturers in their international branding strategies to make premium products. The company’s investments to build a new facility in 2017 has also caught industry attention.

India, one of the world’s top emitter of greenhouse gasses, aims to extend its lighting efficiency program to seven other Asian countries and the UK with aid from the World Bank, reported Bloomberg.

Maharashtra state in India became the second largest distributor of LED bulbs in the nation-wide campaign to slash energy consumption, reported The Hindu.

Royal Philips concluded its LED component business sale after the takeover was delayed for nearly one year, due to national security concerns raised by The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUs) earlier in January this year.

Redirecting focus onto the Chinese LED lighting market, Elech-Tech International (ETI) announced it will be transferring all its international lighting business assets to its Hong Kong subsidiary and sell the company to Jadestone China High-technology Industry Investment Fund (Jadestone).

Royal Philips announced that it has signed an agreement to sell an 80.1% interest in Lumileds, a leading supplier of LED components and automotive lighting, to certain funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC (NYSE: APO) (together with its consolidated subsidiaries: “Apollo”). Philips will retain the remaining 19.9% interest* in Lumileds. 

The Delta State Government in Nigeria announced recently it will be raking in 65 million Naira (US $ 206,185.85) annually from its LED display boards installed throughout the state, reported Channels21 TV.

ALPHA-RLH (Route des Lasers & des Hyperfréquences) is a newly formed technology cluster specializing in photonics, lasers, microwave and digital technologies. It is the result of a merger between two French competitiveness clusters, Route des Lasers and Elopsys.

Holiday lighting is expected to add 750-800 megawatts (MW) to the level of electricity used by New Yorkers this season, the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) reports.