It’s retorted that Philips is offering around 1000 patents related to LED luminaires, and will charge licensing fees such as 5% of net selling price for color-changing luminaires. On June 30, Philips introduced a patent licensing program for LED-based luminaires used in the general illumination, architectural and theatrical markets. Philips has pulled together a list of about 1000 patents – including those originally filed by Color Kinetics - that it says address the basic control technologies required in a broad range of LED lighting applications.

In 2008, Low-cost notebook (netbooks) are expected to become popular. However, LED players have pointed out that material costs have increased while ASPs continue to fall leading to lower-than-expected gross margins. industry players warn, orders from netbook backlight applications may contribute to LED revenues but not necessarily to profits in the third quarter.

It’s reported that Hitachi Ltd. (TSE:6501) and Canon Inc. (TSE:7751) have agreed to jointly develop and manufacture small and midsize organic electroluminescence (EL) displays for digital cameras within two years. The two firms plan to set up in early July to handle the project, they will transfer a total of about 100 engineers to a new organization.

Solid-state lighting, or using LEDs instead of traditional filament incandescent or fluorescent tube designs, promises long bulb lives, energy savings, and monetary savings thanks to the lower power consumption. The light bulb, largely unchanged for decades, is finally on the verge of evolving.

September this year, The Neo-Neo Group will start producing epitaxy wafers, becoming the first Taiwanese LED-lighting maker to be an integrated manufacturer with front-, middle- and back-end productions.

Recently, in order to diversify its business coverage and expand business scale, Formosa Advanced Technologies Company (FATC) announced it will enter into LED chip backend production, with corresponding sales contribution set to double on year.

Recently,Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. announced it would buy a 3.4% stake in China Electrical Mfg. Co., Ltd. and a 40% stake in TOA Optronics Co., Ltd., a China Electrical affiliate, for NT$850 million (US$28 million at US$1:NT$30).The acquisition makes Chi Mei the largest institutional shareholder of China Electrical, Taiwan`s No.1 lighting manufacturer, entitling it to hold seats on TOA`s board. TOA is 100% owned by China Electrical and produces cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) as well as hot cathode fluorescent lamps (HCFLs).

Because of strong demand from OEM clients, Taiwan-based Star World Technology's monthly shipments of small-size AMOLED modules have increased sharply to 100,000-200,000 units recently compared to the beginning of the year, according to the company.Star World said despite the present opaqueness shrouding the panel market, its shipments have see little affect. Star World remains optimistic about the small- to medium-size panel market in the second half of the year, during which utilization rate will come close to full capacity.

According to Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) vice chairman Peter Chen, Chi Mei EL (CMEL) expects that its AMOLED TV-panel technologies, which are being developed with help from Kodak and DuPont, will see a breakthrough next year, and volume production may start in 2010 or 2011.

Recently, LED packaging company Bright LED Electronic has received LED tunnel lamp orders from China for lamps of 50W, 100W and 200W, according to sources, who estimate that the company will ship 8,000 unit starting from the third quarter, helping Bright LED achieve its annual LED street lamp shipment goal of 35,000 units.

According to the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN),Taiwan PC case maker Casing Macron Technology has entered into the LED ODM industry.Casing Macron Technology received LED street lamp ODM orders from China Aerospace Science and Technology (CASC) and Hutchison Whampoa (HWL) for the China Guangshen highway project, and the paper estimates the revenue contribution from the projects will add NT$2-3 billion (US$65-98 million) to Casing Macron Technology 's annual revenues.

Future Lighting Solutions, a leading provider of LED lighting components and solution support, announced today that it has donated LUXEON Rebel LEDs from Philips Lumileds for use on a solar car being built by students at the University of Minnesota. The car will compete in the 2008 North American Solar Challenge, a 2,400-mile race scheduled for July 13-22.

It's reported that South Korean conglomerate LG Group plans to launch an LED light tube series in Japan in July, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday without citing sources.The product, E-Tube, was developed to easily fit into fluorescent lighting equipment commonly used in Japan.LG group's information technology services unit LG CNS Co. has been selling LED light bulbs in South Korea, but decided to develop LED tubes for the Japanese market as an alternative to fluorescent light tubes.

Luminus Devices announced on June 19, 2008 a collaboration with Texas Instruments DLP Products (TI) that bring together the company's award-winning PhlatLight® LED technology with TI's DLP® technology bringing high-quality, long-lasting solid-state illumination to mainstream projection applications. The two companies will demonstrate the industry's first 1080p prototype home theater projection system using their combined technology during InfoComm 2008 taking place from June 18 – 20 in Las Vegas.

Avago Technologies, a leading supplier of analog interface components for communications, industrial and consumer applications, announced on June 18 the addition of new half-watt cool white and warm white light emitting diodes (LEDs) to its series of Moonstone™ power LEDs. Available in one of the industry's thinnest packages, Avago's ASMT-Mx60 LED provides solid-state lighting application designers with a robust and reliable package that provides high brightness illumination and easy installation.

June 19, 2008... Osram Opto Semiconductors Asia Ltd. (Osram) reported the formation of a new partnership with Shenzhen SED Industry Co., Ltd. to launch an LED street lamp project in Mainland China. The project will use Osram's Golden Dragon LED light engine with lens to produce what the Osram says will be a landmark product in the evolution of street lighting. According to Osram, the lamps will be first installed along one of the roads in Shenzhen High-Tech Industrial Park.

Electro Scientific Industries, a leading provider of world-class photonic and laser systems for microengineering applications, today announced that its NWR Division has fully qualified the industry's first Real-Time Dynamic AutoFocus Scribing Solution, the AccuScribe 2150, at a key customer in Taiwan. The innovative automated solution, the latest addition to the AccuScribe 21xx platform, has surpassed standard production scribing quality for High-Brightness Light-Emitting Diode (HBLED) manufacturing. The system is expected to ship before the end of ESI's first fiscal 2009 quarter.

Avago Technologies announced a new miniature autofocus light emitting diode (LED) for use in ultra-slim digital still camera and cell phone designs. With a footprint that can fit on the head of a pencil eraser, Avago's ASMT-FJ30 is the thinnest autofocus LED in the industry and can play a key role in helping digital still camera and camera phone designers to further reduce the overall thickness of those applications. The ASMT-FJ30 is ideal for use as an auxiliary autofocus flash in camera applications that require long distance illumination and a narrow radiation pattern.

L.E.D. lighting has become the lighting industry's new Next Big Thing, with industry proponents predicting that it will eventually knock compact fluorescent lights off their perch as viable alternatives to standard incandescent bulbs. But there is another application that industry observers think L.E.D.'s will also come to dominate: television displays. In a new research report from Insight Media, a flat panel research firm, the company is predicting that by 2011, cost reductions will spur a switch to L.E.D. illumination for L.C.D. TVs.

Insight Media a market analysis firm of Norwalk, Connecticut USA, has released its new backlight unit report that outlines the future of various types of LCD backlighting technologies. These including various CFL and LED configurations. Chris Chinnock, president of Insight Media said, "Which combinations offer the best price-performance? Which ones have clear paths to high volume production? Which combination is best for a particular product? These are the type of questions the LCD BLU Report seeks to answer." Author: LIGHTimes Staff

Following recent trends in the industry, TFT LCD panel maker Chi Mei Opotelectronics (CMO) is focusing on 16:9 aspect ratio and LED backlight products, estimating such applications will reach a penetration rate of around 55% of the company's shipments by 2010, outpacing the global average. CMO is being active regarding its lineup for 16:9 LCD monitors with sizes including 15.6-, 18.5-, 21.6- and 23.6-inch.

Philips Electronics India, a consumer electronics and healthcare equipment company, is looking for acquisitions in the lighting, lifestyle and healthcare segments. "We are working on around three proposals currently for possible acquisitions. We are sitting on a cash surplus of Rs 600 crore," said S M Datta, chairman of the company. Meanwhile, the company is scouting for local partners to launch economical range of products across its lighting, lifestyle and healthcare segments.

AccessDiscounts.us - a leading supplier of grow lights, residential lighting and commercial lighting, today announced the rising interest in LED lighting for commercial and residential lighting needs.

It's reported that HB LEDs used for lighting applications is one of the fastest growing market segments in the HB LED industry. With a growth rate over 60% since 2006, this application is one of the most intriguing elements for adaptation of HB LEDs. In order to address this market, Strategies Unlimited will be releasing its third edition of The Market for High-Brightness LEDs in Lighting Applications - 2008. This report will contain the following information: • Market data and forecasts through 2012 broken out by material type, color, and package type.

On June 2, 2008, a date that will live in infamy, the solid state lighting community was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the combined communication and policy forces of the Office of Air and Radiation the US Environmental Protection Agency... It will be recorded that the distance from a government-inspired concept to an actual policy makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago.

A research team at Saga University in Saga, Japan, has created a new green LED that the researchers contend is only a fraction of the cost, but can be as energy efficient, according to an article in Nikkei Net. Instead of using the more expensive molecular beam epitaxy, the researchers used what the article called thermal diffusion. Also, instead of using gallium phosphide, one of the frequently used but pricy compounds for green LEDs, the researchers used zinc telluride. Author: LIGHTimes Staff

DURHAM, N.C., June 11, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Cree, Inc (Nasdaq:CREE) announces the sample release of a 90W, highly efficient GaN HEMT microwave transistor for general-purpose military and industrial applications such as electronic warfare, radar, tactical radios and EMC applications. This transistor provides superior performance over wide bandwidths compared to other technologies such as GaAs MESFET or Si LDMOSFET.

The new OSTAR® Projection SMT LED from OSRAM Opto Semiconductors is more compact and efficient than ever before and is designed for integration into ultra-miniature pico projection applications where space is at a premium. This compact LED module measures just 5.8 x 4.7 x 1.5 mm and, in contrast to its predecessor, does not require additional connectors on board for electrical interface. Thanks to SMT (surface mount technology), this new version of the OSTAR® Projection LED is now suitable for standard soldering processes.

Taipei, June 9, 2008 (CENS)--Lite-On Technology Corp. has begun small-volume shipments of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for notebook PC backlight units (BLUs) in May, while the firm`s many other related products would be launched steadily in the second half, according to company CEO Teng Kuang-chung, Lite-On Technology registered revenue of NT$2.73 billion (US$89.5 million at US$1: NT$30.5) for the first quarter, down 12% from the fourth quarter of 2007, yielding the position of Taiwan`s No. 1 LED packager to major rival Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd.

LCD-TV today uses CCFL backlight technology, but many think that LEDs backlights is the future. But costs remain an issue in the adoption of LED backlights for larger-sized LCDs. Using a new cost model tool developed by Insight Media and validated by industry experts, the model finds that the price decline for LED backlights will be steep, allowing a rapid changeover to begin around 2011.