Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) announced today the successful transfer of FlexUP™ technology to FlexUP Technologies Corp. By providing flexible substrate material, this new startup aims at satisfying the growing demand and emerging opportunities in the flexible display market for smart handheld devices, wrist worn devices and flexible medical sensors.

LED is a fast changing industry. Asian manufacturers have taken their own paths to confront the tide of change. Japanese manufacturers are actively seeking collaboration opportunities with Taiwanese manufacturers, while Korean LED manufacturer Samsung has gradually exited the global LED market. Chinese manufacturers on the other hand are expanding production capacity on the back of government support.

Taiwan’s Executive Yuan announced recently plans to phase out the nation’s 692,000 mercury-vapor lamps with LEDs in the next two years, according to a recent Taipei Times report.

Global LED market prices have been disrupted by heavily subsidized Chinese manufacturers, to stay relevant Taiwanese manufacturers need to work on strengthening patent portfolios, said Katsuyuki Akutagawa, Chief Legal and IP Officer Board Director for Nichia at a press conference in Taipei, Taiwan on Thursday.

LED streetlights are known to be bright, sometimes too bright that UK and U.S. residents have complained glare from LEDs disrupted sleeping patterns. In a recent turn of events, though, residents in Taiwan and India have reported the LED streetlights were too dim, and were underperforming in brightness compared to previous generation lights.

The Cross-Strait LED industry cooperation seminar took place at Dayeh University in Changhua County, Taiwan on Sept. 4, 2014. Industry experts and academia from China and Taiwan attended the seminar.

Taiwan’s LED industry godfather Everlight Chairman Robert Yeh upheld a positive outlook on the industry developments, according to an Economic Daily News report.

Taiwanese LED stocks plunged on Aug. 21, 2014 over rumors of Chinese government’s intention to raise LED tariffs. To clarify market rumors, LED manufacturers Lite-On, Everlight, Epistar and Unity Opto all stated they did not receive any notices regarding increased tariffs from Chinese authorities, and an uptick in tariffs would have limited impact since they all had LED factories in China. These Taiwanese LED manufacturers also emphasized delivering good revenue performances for August 2014.

The LED industry showed stable growth in first half of 2014, with conventional peak season arriving in 3Q14, many LED manufacturers July 2014 revenues set new historical records including listed companies Everlight, FOREPI and Lextar. LED upstream sapphire substrate manufacturers revenues were slightly weak last month, with only listed company Crystalwise Technology showing strong revenue income. Other listed sapphire substrate companies including Rigidtech and others have also expanded  production capacity. 

Lite-On recently announced donating NT $ 5 million (US $170,000) to the gas-explosion devastated Kaohsiung City in southern Taiwan.

A research team in Taiwan is following in Google’s footsteps in launching an exclusive eyewear to detect early signs of diabetes. The device unlike Google’s contact lens announced in January 2014 is worn on top of glasses to detect whether a person has diabetes. It remains unclear as to whether the new diabetes detection eyewear from Taiwan will also pick up on Google’s lead of using LED indicator lights.

Taiwanese sapphire manufacturers Rigidtech Microelectronics (Rigidtech) and Aceplux Optotech have seen revenue more than double during May and June 2014, according to a CNYes.com report. The two companies benefited from soaring LED lighting demands that have led to rising Patterned Sapphire Substrate (PSS) revenue.

The debate over the construction of Taiwan’s fourth nuclear power plant has been heating up. Alternative energy manufacturers have been eager to voice their opinions, urging the government to reconsider nuclear power as an energy source for the country. 

Taiwan has seen an uptick in LED street light replacement activity as of late. Last year, around 25,000 street lights were replaced during a street light replacement project across five major cities in Taiwan. An additional 30,000 street lights are anticipated to be replaced this year, according to the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI).

LED stocks delivered the strongest performance on the Taiwan bourse on March 4, 2014, according to a report by Chinese-language Commercial Times.  The report attributed the performance to rising LED market penetration rates and China’s environmental policies discussed at two conferences. Taiwanese LED manufacturers Unity Opto, LedTech Electronics, Tekcore and other stock prices soared, while other LED companies also saw stocks rebound.

According to a recent top-hundred ranking list of domestic patent application in 2013 by Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Lextar Electronics Corp. remained in the first place in LED industry in Taiwan,. In the ranking, Lextar was also second to none in number of granted patents and invention patent applications. This was the third consecutive year that Lextar topped in patent application in Taiwan LED industry, revealing its effectiveness in technology and patent deployment.

Haven’t decided where to welcome a shining new year? Come to Taitung seashore park in the evening of Dec. 31st, 2013, where a colorful LED lights-centered New Year party promises to give you an unforgettable experience.

The lighting market trend will continue its gradaul growth. LED lighting penetration rates are expected to further increase as LED prices overall falling and consumer recognition is on the rise. Backlight market orders have slid as uncertainties still surround China’s new home appliance subsidiary policy. Some LED manufacturers revenues have decreased and there has been a rebound in the backlight market compared to last month. With the Chinese Lunar New Year approaching, manufacturers’ conventional holiday stockup demands will provide a certain degree of support for LED manufacturers’ sales performance. Overall, the LED market will continue its upward climb in November.

Regarding application and cognition of light, there are completely different opinions from technological and design aspects. CN (Alexander) Sun, Principal of GUANG Lighting Design in Taiwan, talked about the application of LED in hotels and grand residences and discussed the “quality of light” in LEDforum 2013. This way of aesthetical thinking is from our right brain.

Conventional lighting fixture industry was not as changeable as it is now. Steve Chiu, a 22-year-experienced lamp producer and General Manager of Davinci Lighting, shared his insights and opinions on lighting fixture industry on LEDforum 2013 Taipei.

previous article: Interview with Ta-Wei Lin on Giant Bicycle Headquarters – Interacting with a vivid building, Making LED not to be like LED (1/2) Ta-wei Lin, a member of PLDA, is a MA of interior design (Pratt Institute) and an international lighting designer who has won IALD Award of Excellence and IIDA Award of Merit. Lin is now the principal of CMA Lighting Design, mostly focusing on lighting projects in Taiwan.

Ta-Wei Lin, a member of PLDA, is a MA of interior design (Pratt Institute) and an international lighting designer who has won IALD Award of Excellence and IIDA Award of Merit. Lin is now the principal of CMA Lighting Design, mostly focusing on lighting projects in Taiwan. In 2012, he won IESNA Illumination Award by his lighting design, Giant Bicycle Headquarters in Taichung, Taiwan. We are very honored to have such a chance to interview Mr. Lin on his award-winning project.

GlacialPower, a division of the Taiwanese technology manufacturer, GlacialTech Inc., is pleased to announce two new GlacialPower LED drivers for constant voltage (CV) and constant current (CC) LED lights—GP-RS45P and GP-RS60P—available in several options ranging from 12V DC to 57V DC. The drivers are also available with a 3 in 1 dimming (1-10V/PWM/Resistor) function. Both of the drivers are ideal for any indoor LED lighting solutions, as the IP67 approved plastic housing protects the drivers from possible dust or water damage such ...

Phihong Technologies Ltd (Taiwan), a high-volume manufacturer of a wide range of electronic assemblies including drivers for LED lighting, and Oree Illumination Solutions Inc. (Israel), developer of LED-based planar lighting technology, have signed a global partnership agreement. Both companies will market Oree's LightCell™ technology and Phihong’s LED driver technology as a complete plug-and-play system for lighting designers and manufacturers. As a result of this agreement, Phihong will sell and support Oree's LightCell products to custome...

LED lighting division of Future Electronics and Philips Lumileds announced to organize free LED lighting seminars in Shenzhen, China and Taipei, Taiwan, in order to enhance customers' understanding of Philips Lumileds LUXEON portfolio. These seminars will help customers taking the opportunity to learn the latest LED lighting technology of Philips Lumileds, including the benefits of high power LED, medium-power LED, low power LED and the on-board chip. In addition, these one-day seminar will also discuss a variety of components related to Philips ...

It is reported that National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) cooperates with Philips to develop horticultural LED lighting, and the two sides will sign cooperation letter of intent on the 29th. NPUST says today that the general illumination lamps used for the plants not only consumer much energy, but the heat is high, currently, the LED light has gradually been used in plant factory. NPUST points out that the cooperation with Philips will initially target plants with high economic value and higher planting threshold, and develop suitab...

It is reported that Taiwan-based Excellence Opto, Inc. (EOI) announced the expansion of its new facility in Grand Rapids, Michigan to serve the LED automotive lighting market. The company stated that it has actively focused on LED automotive lighting in the past 12 years and that LED automotive lighting now takes up about 60% of its revenue. LED lighting products including industrial lights, roadway lights and signal lights make up the rest. The new facility will now serve as EOI's hub for the sales and distribution center of automotive LED lighting prod...

It has been reported that Apple's next iPhone will be shipped in September, and the news comes from the industry that Apple's biggest coating plant Bern optical has begun shipping to Apple and actively picking up goods from Sapphire suppliers, as the release of Apple's next iPhone is just around the corner and the shipment of LED lighting is in blessing season, sapphire is expected to increase in both price and volume in Q3, Taiwan-based Plants like ACME Electronics, Crystalwise Technology, ACTC will benefit more than others. Sapphire material has b...

AIXTRON has announced another repeat order from Taiwan’s EpiLEDs Co., Ltd. to support ramp-up of GaN-based LED production for lighting applications. The order for two CRIUS II-L 69x2-inch systems was made in the first quarter of 2013, for delivery in the third quarter of 2013. EpiLEDs is exclusively producing with MOCVD equipment from AIXTRON. Mr. MingSen Hsu, President at EpiLEDs, comments: “We want a smooth ramp-up of production based on existing, proven technology. The CRIUS II-L meets our requirements for hig...

GlacialLight, a division of the Taiwanese technology manufacturer, GlacialTech Inc., is pleased to announce that its environmentally friendly LED lighting products are being used in many applications around the world and providing users with energy-saving light of the highest quality. The redecorated indoor facilities of Dongshan Expressway Service Area in Southern Taiwan, the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia, are an excellent example of the benefits of GlacialLight LED lighting. The redecorated indoor facilities of Dongshan Service Area were opened to th...