Taiwan-based auto lamp modules and components manufacturer Excellence Optoelectronics (EOI) on April 10 announced to go public on the Taiwan Stock Exchange on May 9.

Ultravision International, a manufacturer and distributor of LED displays and LED lighting, has filed a patent infringement complaint at the United States International Trade Commission (USITC), seeking remedial orders barring 37 companies from importing, selling and distributing infringing LED display products in the United States.

Lite-On Reports Steady Growth in LED Related Businesses, While AUO Monthly Panel Shipments Increase.

Taiwanese LED chip packaging company EVERLIGHT Electronics on April 9 announced that it has won a patent infringement lawsuit against Seoul Semiconductor in South Korea.

The Trump administration on April 4, 2018 published a list of 1300 Chinese exports and proposed to apply a 25% tariff on these products. However, the proposal would have limited impact on LED companies in China and Taiwan, according to LEDinside.

LEDVANCE, one of the world's leading general lighting providers for professional users and end consumers, is now 100 percent owned by the leading Chinese LED lighting company MLS. MLS has taken over the full ownership of LEDVANCE by means of a share deal with the strategic investor IDG Capital and the financial investor Yiwu. As part of the deal, IDG Capital and Yiwu will become shareholders of MLS via a joint investment.

Over the past two years, Micro LED, regarded as the new generation display technology, has attracted a lot of attention. Seeing great potential in this new technology, a large number of manufacturers have scrambled for it. According to LEDinside’s latest report "1Q18 Micro LED Next-Generation Display Technology Market Report- 2018 Micro LED and Mini LED Industry Trend", the market value of Micro LED is expected to reach US $2.891 billion in 2025.

The technology companies Osram and Continental have successfully concluded their negotiations on the Osram Continental GmbH joint venture.

LG is reported to have filed applications to the EU for three trademarks related to Micro LED displays. The trademarks are XµLED, SµLED, and XLµLED, Gsmarena.com carried in a report.

The sales of iPhone X turned out to be less than market expectation, so Samsung has lowered the utilization rate of OLED production lines. The tight supply of OLED panels over the past two years has also been eased. According to WitsView, a division of TrendForce, Apple has initiated the trend of OLED panels, and it is estimated that the penetration rate of OLED panel in smartphones will reach 46% by 2021. Mini LED is overwhelmed by OLED’s technology maturity and competitive costs, so it might be hard for Mini LED to grow in the smartphone market in short term.

We have seen at the trade show major lighting brands announce their determination to transition away from LED lighting companies to software-oriented IoT Solution providers. Companies in the lighting industry admitted their profits have been affected by severe price wars in the market and have tried to develop new business opportunities. However, in comparison, LEDVANCE chooses to not only keep but even expand its focus on general lighting as a globally active, full-scale LED lighting company.

OSRAM Opto Semiconductors recently entered into a technology and patent license agreement with X-Celeprint. The agreement covers X-Celeprint’s micro transfer printing technology.

Osram is strengthening its electronic component business with the acquisition of BAG electronics, a Trilux subsidiary. BAG specializes in LED modules and software for innovative LED lighting solutions. The company, based in Arnsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia, was previously part of the Trilux Group. Following the takeover, its 380 employees have moved to Osram. At the same time, a strategic five-year supply contract including a minimum sales volume has been agreed, with Osram supplying Trilux with components for use in its lights. BAG generated revenues of around €50 million in 2017.

Students attending Dubai’s Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU) need never flick a light switch or search for a tutorial or classroom again. Philips Lighting has equipped the university with state-of the-art connected LED lighting controlled by its Interact Office system. The technology enables faculty staff to control and personalize light settings using a smartphone app, while students can be guided to rooms using lighting-based indoor positioning technology. Such innovations bring to life Philips Lighting’s strategy to deliver new capabilities as value expands from lighting products to software and services.

Telensa, specializing in deployment of connected street lighting and Smart City applications, announced that it has been selected by Whakatane District Council to deploy its PLANet intelligent streetlighting system. The project, part of a New Zealand Transport Agency programme to convert existing road lighting to LED, will involve replacing Whakatane’s 2,500 streetlights with wirelessly managed LEDs. The project is due for completion in June 2018.

Together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering, TEMICON and Continental, Osram Opto Semiconductors has been working since October 2017 on the development of extremely compact and low-profile optical components for data visualization or illumination.

Over the past few years, MLS has been attracting more and more global attention. Not only did the LED packaging company top the industry in China, the scale of its electronic manufacturing service (EMS) business ramped up at a speed its competitors failed to catch up. In 2017, the establishment of Global Value Lighting with Lighting Science and the acquisition of LEDVANCE from Osram evinced the ambition of MLS for a vertical integration to approach end markets.

Light + Building 2018, the largest trade fair for lighting and building services technology in Europe, officially begins on March 18. For the next six days, 18-23 March, exhibitors at the show will showcase their state-of-the-art products and technologies, whether they are for lighting, communication, building automation, or automotive applications.

Chinese LED packager Nationstar on March 2 inaugurated its new research center focusing on the research and development of Mini LED and Micro LED.

Philips Lighting finally made an announcement about the name change. It intends to change its name from Philips Lighting to Signify. The choice of the new company name originates from the fact that light becomes an intelligent language, which connects and conveys meaning.

Tridonic initiated patent lawsuits against telecommunication retailer S-KON eKontor24 GmbH. Although District Court Munich I affirmed Tridonic’s arguments, parties agreed on a settlement for reasons of legal certainty and prompt settlement of the dispute.

Optovate Ltd., the Micro LED optical specialist, announces that it has realized a Micro LED technology that enables multiple Micro LEDs transferred in parallel from a wafer to a substrate to be aligned in one step with a precision optical array. The technology is the subject of a portfolio of 20 granted and pending patents dating from 2008.

Photonics product provider Lumentum and Oclaro, specializing in optical components and modules, announced that the two companies have signed a definitive agreement, unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, pursuant to which Lumentum will acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Oclaro.

The nights in the German federal states („Bundesländer") have been getting brighter and brighter - but not everywhere at the same rate and with one peculiar exemption: light emissions from Thuringia decreased between 2012 and 2017.

A team led by engineers at the University of California San Diego has used data mining and computational tools to discover a new phosphor material for white LEDs that is inexpensive and easy to make.

Through a European project, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Neonelektro have developed new types of LED displays that combine the flexibility, low cost and high technical performance enabled by roll-to-roll mass manufacturing technology.

A soft, flexible contact lens can monitor glucose levels in tears and deliver sensing results through the lens display, alerting the user if glucose levels are too high by turning off a tiny embedded LED light, according to a new report from UNIST, Korea.

Solar-Tectic LLC ("ST") announced that a paper reporting a breakthrough thin-film transistor (TFT) technology, that promises greatly to improve current processes used the industry, has been published in the peer reviewed journal Materials Letters. The title of the paper is: "High mobility crystalline silicon film growth below 600°C from an Au-Si eutectic melt for TFTs".

Mini LED is a new display technology in Asia. AU Optronics (AUO) on March 8 released the world's first Mini LED-based product line, including a gaming monitor, a gaming laptop, and a small-sized display for VR wearable devices. The company will begin to ship its Mini LED products in 2H18 and the large-scale gaming monitor will be the first to be on the market, said Michael Tsai, General Manager at AUO.

Seoul Semiconductor announced on March 8, 2018 that it has filed three new patent infringement lawsuits, together with its affiliate, Seoul Viosys Co., Ltd. (collectively “Seoul”), against a lighting company and distributors selling products that allegedly infringe Seoul's Acrich patents.