According to Acuity Brands’ Lithonia Lighting, its Product Development Manager William Ballweg will present at the upcoming Solid State Lighting Design (“SSL Design”) 2011 Summit in Los Angeles, CA and the Strategies in Light® conference in Santa Clara, CA.  

Manufacturing Award at Printed Electronics and Photovoltaics USA 2010. The prize is awarded for exceptional work on developing high-efficiency components and manufacturing technologies for flexible electronics. AIXTRON has received the award for its OVPD® process1, an enabling technology for manufacturing OLEDs and other applications in organic electronics.

LED chipmaker Epistar's revenues for December were NT$1.44 billion (US$49.24 million), dropped 13% compared to November. The revenues for the full year in 2010 reached NT$19.76 billion, up 55% from 2009.

Recently, Taiwan LED manufacturer Aeon Lighting Technology (ALT) has successfully acquired the LED Streetlight CNS Mark, making it Taiwan’s first LED-streetlight manufacturer to pass inspections of the world’s first industry standard dedicated to LED streetlights. In the meantime, it also released its latest versions of its LED lamps, such as Orion-coded T8 light tubes, chandelier bulbs, SO2-coded streetlights, BR lamps, and GX5.3 MR16 lamps in the fourth quarter 2010.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) had suspended the PAR 38 portion of the L Prize competition in which companies were working to develop an LED-based solid-state lighting (SSL) replacement for halogen lamps. But in the Lightfair International in May 2011, the DOE planed to reopen the competition with modified competition requirements.

It is rumored that Genesis Photonics would cooperate with china's Potevio Group soon in order to ensure orders from the China market. Potevio which was a China-based state-owned business conglomerate, previously formed a LED lighting joint venture with Taiwan's Unity Opto Technology through its subsidiary in 2009. In 2010 the company also signed a cooperation agreement with power supply maker ENG Technology, which produced LED lighting products as well, promising orders worth US$100 million.

City of Foshan, Guangdong Province is reported to inject about 300 billion RMB to set up “Guangdong Green Lighting Demonstration Cities”. The five districts and Dongping town will promote the Foshan road （street）, tunnel, large-scale public buildings, as well as green lighting products upgrading.

LED chip packaging company Wellypower Optronics announced its consolidated revenues for December 2010 hit a record high of NT$820 million (US$28.16 million), and the company got revenues of NT$8.9 billion in the whole years, up 25.4% on year. In December, Wellypower’s LED products sales had a 55.62% share in the total revenues, while CCFL sales was at NT$319 million (38.93%) and lighting products was at NT$44.67 million (5.45%). 4Q10 revenues were NT$2.39 billion, which better than market expectations.

Recently, Everlight has taken the leads in the world’s first 3rd party verified Carbon Footprint Declaration of LED products by SGS, an international certificate organization that follows the PAS 2050：2008 standard verification from United Kingdom Accreditation Service.

After the EU, the US, Australia and others have imposed restrictions to phase out incandescent light bulbs, it’s reported that China is in the process of making the roadmap for banning the use of these bulbs. The restriction is expected to be unveiled in March. According to Wang Jinsui, director general of China Illuminating Engineering Society, said in China Business News, "The National Development and Reform Commission has been drafting the map."

It’s reported that Lighting Science Group has appointed Travis Jones as vice president of national accounts. Jones will play an integral role in the management of existing national accounts, and the pursuit of new accounts.  He will report to John Bono, Lighting Science Group's vice president for strategic accounts. Before joining Lighting Science Group, Jones worked for Cooper Lighting where he was most recently the business development manager for national accounts.

LED chip packaging company Unity Opto Technology’ revenues for December 2010 were NT$510 million (US$17.51 million), down 8.9% sequentially but increasing 30% on year. The accumulated revenues for the full year were NT$6.77 billion, up 69% compared to 2009. Looking forward, both new LED backlit units and new clients were expected to ship much more in 1Q11. LED lighting products’ revenues were also expected to reach 20% in the total revenues in 2011 compared to 13% in 2010.

The Japan-based LED maker Nichia announced that Lumitronix LED-Technik GmbH had became Nichia’s first official LED distributor in Germany from January 1, 2011. In the past, Nichia had used to supply its LEDs directly to end-use customers, without using distribution channels anywhere in the world. Nichia had also broken with its own tradition by cooperating with Lumitronix.

The market estimated that LED lighting products’ prices would drop by 15-20% each year amid increase competition in the market as vendors reduce prices to gain market share, which even be fall to one-third of current prices. At first, the Japanese market appeared to price war in 2009. Sources from LED companies indicated that the price competition had extended to China, Europe and the US.

A leader of Ledtech Electronics introduced, in 2011, the company would emphasis on the indoor lighting and low-temperature lighting market, working hard for revenue up 50% on year, which meant about NT$2.6 billion (US$89.27 million).

A power control IC company iWatt’s president and CEO, Ron Edgerton is reported to present as a panel member in the private company track during the Piper Jaffray Sixth Annual Clean Technology & Renewables Conference which will held at The Westin New York at Times Square on January 12, 2011. Mr. Edgerton will discuss the role iWatt’s GreenTech power supply control ICs play in the clean technology industry, and specifically in the LED solid state lighting markets.

InvenLux Optoelectronics (China) has ordered Jordan Valley Semiconductors (JVS)’ QC3 HRXRD tool which is designed to provide characterization for GaAs, InP, Si and GaN (thick buffers) for HB-LED manufacturing industry.

Samsung Electronics has showed off more than 40 new LED models with screen sizes from 19-inches to 65-inches at the International Consumer Electronics Show. The new TVs offer dramatically enhanced picture quality in 2D, 3D, HD and streaming content, as well as richer connected entertainment options delivered through one of the most comprehensive offering of apps and connected devices. In addition, Samsung will also expand the number of 3D TV models available in 2011.

Arima Optoelectronics had got the first segment of patent licensing charge from its Chinese joint venture in Shanxi. The total licensing charge was CNY270 million and the joint venture would pay the full amount in five years with the first installment of CNY120 million (US$15.45 million) and CNY102 million after tax.

For all of 2010, Thinking Electronic Industrial posted revenues of NT$4.33 billion, increasing 35.8% from a year earlier. December consolidated revenues were NT$367 million (US$12.61 million), down 3.7% sequentially. In January of 2011, the company started to receive orders as usual, and Thinking's capacity would remain tight in 1Q11 as the company's new plant in China would not come online until 3Q11. But 1Q11 revenues would remain low compared to 4Q10, following the impact of the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays.

Royal Philips Electronics (AEX: PHI, NYSE: PHG) announced today that it has acquired Optimum Lighting LLC, a privately owned company specializing in customized energy-efficient lighting solutions for the office, industry and retail segments. This acquisition complements Philips’ customer-centric innovation capabilities and strengthens its global leadership position in professional lighting solutions.

Industry sources estimated Richtek Technology 1Q revenues in 2011 would be up 5-10% sequentially, with it's working hard in the handset, LED backlight and consumer electronics. In 2010, 4Q revenues were expected to top NT$2.6 billion, which was higher than the company's projection of NT$2.2-2.5 billion, with gross margin down about 35-38%. Except that, Richtek had completed a buyback of one million company shares from the open market at an average price of NT$253.53 per share.

It’s reportedly that Taiwan's Laser Tek planed to acquire a small- to medium-sized company specializing in surface-mount-technology (SMT) equipment, in order to advance its semiconductor equipment portfolio.

Home decor and furniture company IKEA has stopped stocking or selling incandescent light bulbs in its US stores. This action comes ahead of federal legislation that would mandate more efficient light bulbs starting in 2012. The retailer began phasing out the sale of the light bulbs in August. The pullout also applies to IKEA stores in Canada. Stores in France and Australia started phasing out the incandescent bulbs last year. At present, IKEA's available lighting options include the compact fluorescent bulb, LED, halogen and solar-powered lamps.

AVX Corporation, a leading manufacturer of passive components and interconnect solutions, recently received the Passive & Electromechanical Product of the Year at the Elektra Awards for its new surface mount polymer tantalum capacitors. Reviewed by an independent panel of judges, the Elektra 2010 European Electronics Industry Awards is an annual celebration of the European electronics industry that recognizes the achievements of individuals and companies.

Recently, California introduced a new standard for the energy efficiency of 100W incandescent lamps. A 100-watt bulb manufactured on or after January 1, 2011 must use 28% less energy in California states, with providing the same amount of light (in lumens). The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) designed the law, which would reduce energy use and associated pollution and make the United States less dependent on foreign sources of energy. Also, the law would save California consumers money.

In 4Q10, the LED-backlit shipment which were applied LCD TVs, monitors and notebooks, had a 40% share in the Chimei Innolux's(CMI) total panel shipments, and it’s expected to reach 50% in 1Q11. In the CMI’s LED-backlit applications, TV panel shipments had a 15%, and monitor panels accounted for 30%, with 100% of notebook panels in 4Q10.

Taiwan monocrystalline sapphire ingots’ manufactory USI Optronics reportedly expected its global market share to increase to 13-15% in 2011, with its orders beyond its production capacity in 1Q of 2011. The sources pointed out, in the end of 2010, USI Optronics produced monocrystalline sapphire ingots to increase 220,000mm every month, and planed to increase to 550,000mm at the end of 2011, which was decided by the perfect quality and competitive price. Also, the company’ global market share would rise in 2011.

According to Times of Oman, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced that the Australia-based Solar-Gem would use solar energy to supply electricity to the Elephanta Caves in India. According to Singh , this project was launched last month and would provide three villages with electricity for the first time on 24/7 basis. The company would use LED lamps from panels that store sun rays as electricity in battery units.

According to an official from optoelectronic components manufacturer, RONA Electricals (Pvt) Ltd, the firm will build a factory to manufacture solid-state lighting or LED bulbs in the Gampaha district to introduce more energy saving lighting among Sri Lankan consumers and reduce electricity bill. As their first project, the company is retro-fitting the existing energy consuming bulbs at all 22 places of Buddhist worship which receive free electricity from the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) .