Osram has acquired a strategic 25.1 percent share in LeddarTech Inc., a Canadian company that develops a proprietary LiDAR technology integrated into semiconductors and sensor modules for self-driving cars and driver-assistance systems. LeddarTech specializes in solid-state LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) systems that use infrared light to monitor the area around them, and its advanced optical sensing technology is highly complementary with Osram’s semiconductor products. The two companies already work together and Osram has now made an investment in LeddarTech in the mid double-digit million euros.

The Korean Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) announced on 24th July that it developed a new technology to possibly facilitate the mass transfer process of Micro LED manufacturing, as Business Korea carried in its report.

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released a new Snapshot report on LED downlights. Among the key findings of the Snapshot, which is based on DOE's LED Lighting Facts® database: The efficacy of LED downlights is lower than for most other product categories, although it's higher than for downlights using conventional light sources. About 50% of the downlights listed have a luminous efficacy greater than 70 lm/W, with only 2% above 100 lm/W. The mean efficacy for downlight luminaires only increased by 1 lm/W...

The LED industry had quite a peaceful time in 1H17. Apart from a few M&As, the most-discussed technology would be Micro LED. Lots of high-tech giants worldwide have already started a series of R&D and the number of participants is getting bigger. The supply chain of Micro LED, although of limited mature technologies, is slowly shaping up. Here, LEDinside lists out major events and milestones made on the path of developing Micro LED in the first half of 2017.

Kyulux, Inc., expertizing in next generation organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology, and WiseChip, a noted manufacturer of organic light emitting diode (OLED) products, announced that the two companies plan to release a commercial product utilizing 4th generation Hyperfluorescence OLED light emission technology. This will be the first commercial product using this new generation of organic compounds in a commercial display product.

Samsung Electronics announced it has installed its first ever commercial Cinema LED Screen at Lotte Cinema World Tower in Korea. Designed as a High Dynamic Range (HDR) LED theater display, the Cinema LED Screen creates a more captivating and vibrant viewing experience through next-generation picture quality and true-to-life audio thanks to collaboration with HARMAN Professional Solutions.

Philips Lighting announced a new report jointly produced by Philips Lighting and the World Council on City Data (WCCD) which reveals that cities could make energy savings and CO2 emission reductions of almost two-thirds through the introduction of smart LED street lighting.

The Merivaara Q-Flow surgical light improves the working environment in operating rooms, and also offers a new way to reduce the risk of infections.

In early August 2017, the most technically sophisticated, robotic LED display in the world will be formally launched. Radius Displays International, in collaboration with our client, has spent over 4 years leading the design, engineering, testing and fabrication of the 2,600 square foot display.

It has been spreading like crazy that in 2H17 three iPhone models- the high-end iPhone 8 featuring an OLED display, iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus that continue to use LCD displays- will hit the shelves. Latest sources leaked Apple might increase OLED display use in its products and all the three new iPhones to roll out in 2018 are likely to sport OLED displays. That possibly implies orders Apple places with LCD display providers Sharp and Japan Display Inc. (JDI) would plummet. It will be much of a shock to JDI which earns over 50% of its revenue from Apple’s phone screen demand.

 Curable Phosphor PSA Films designed for CSP LED high-volume manufacturing were successfully developed and mass-produced by FLORY Optoelectronic Materials Company in Suzhou of China after years of innovation and optimization. The pressure-sensitive nature of this Phosphor Film (PF) eliminates the usage of an extra-layer of PSA in between the phosphor sheet and the CSP chip （Figure 1). The use of Curable Phosphor PSA Films can significantly simplify the CSP packaging process, enhance reliability, improve yields and productivity, and reduce the cost of ownership. In addition, curable and thermally conductive silicone pastes T02-01 with excellent gap filling and high conductivity were successfully developed as well at FLORY Materials.  

Sumitomo Chemical, the Japan-based chemical giant, is reported to have successfully developed new technologies to facilitate more cost efficient OLED display manufacture. According to Nikkei, the new materials and equipment the company introduced could possibly bring down the current production cost of OLED panels by 50%, which is able to further reduce the selling prices of OLED TVs and expand the penetration of OLED products.  

The confirmation of Samsung Display (SDC) being Apple’s AMOLED panel supplier for the upcoming iPhone devices has spurred other smartphone brands and panel makers to aggressively invest in this display technology. The latest display market forecast by WitsView, a division of TrendForce, finds that AMOLED is set to become mainstream in the global smartphone market in the near future with the penetration rate reaching to almost 50% by 2020.

Could the fire of war in the OLED display market be as heavy as that in the memory industry? Samsung Display is reported to construct the world’s largest OLED display factory. Such a massive production ramp-up is believed to be the Korean display maker’s move to make competitive prices of its OLED products to confront the growing threats from Chinese contenders.

It seems Apple is planning on finding one more source of OLED displays for its iPhone. The Korea Herald reported that last month Apple talked with LG Display to invest around USD 1.75-2.62 billion into its new OLED plant, called E6.

Smart cities is definitely one of the latest buzzwords, together with the Internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, smart data and visible light communication (VLC). Interesting enough, it is actually the presentation of these factors integrating all together on a scale of a city. Everything in a city–transportation, communication, security, water and power supply, and other community services–through networks, computing, analysing, and data transfer, can be more efficiently managed and improved. This is how a smart city is conceived.

Wipro Lighting became the first Indian Lighting Company to participate in the CISCO Live event which was scheduled from 25 – 29 June 2017, Las Vegas, USA. The company unveiled and showcased it’s smart & connected lighting solutions at the event. With over two decades of experience in standalone & connected lighting control system installations, Wipro Lighting is at the forefront in providing smart, intelligent & connected lighting solutions for modern work space requirements and applications.

The first half of 2017 has passed and the world has been waiting for the new iPhone, which is projected to be launched either late in this year or in 1Q18. However, according to CNBC’s report on 20th June, gadget lovers could probably have a few more things to expect, Apple’s smart glasses ‘iGlass’, for instance.

Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display lately has been receiving market attention. Not only have Korean companies been working on the development, but recently, according to BusinessKorea, even Chinese firms have jumped into the competition.

While the public thought Sharp might focus fully on the manufacture of 8K resolution television screens after the first one was made public two years ago, according to the Japan Times, the LCD TV maker now seems determined to step into the market of OLED display by establishing new product lines- one in the city of Sakai, Osaka, and the other in Taki, a town in Mie Prefecture.

South Korean LED manufacturing Giant Seoul Semiconductor and Japan-based Toshiba Materials held a press conference introducing SunLike, a new LED technology supported by Toshiba’s TRI-R phosphor solution, in Frankfurt, Germany. The SunLike LEDs with TRI-R phosphor technology simulate sun in terms of emission spectrum, eliminating excessive blue light and appearing to be more friendly to human eyes and circadian rhythm.

LG Display, the world’s leading innovator of display technologies, announced today that it has developed the world’s first 77-inch flexible and transparent OLED display. With this achievement, LG Display, recognized for its expertise in large-sized OLED technology, further reinforced its leadership in the global display industry.

Silver Spring Networks, Inc. today announced its first international utility-led, country-wide smart street light control program with Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS). JPS is an integrated electric utility company and the sole distributor of electricity in Jamaica serving over 600,000 customers. JPS will extend its existing Silver Spring IPv6 platform to connect up to 110,000 smart LED street lights in population centers around the island including Kingston, Spanish Town, Negril, and Falmouth. Silver Spring’s Streetlight.Vision Central Management System (CMS) will also be deployed for JPS through a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model to control and manage the networked street lights.

At this moment in the history of the LED industry, we have already witnessed it passed into the maturity stage, struggled to revive by finding new beachhead markets (and it succeeded), and advanced its production, ready to embrace future business possibilities. LED chip manufacturers and packagers worldwide have now been gradually shifting their focus to develop products for niche markets, including UV LED, IR LED, automotive, horticultural, and even smart lighting.

It is inevitable to find some exhibitors keep harping on the same old products at a tremendous lighting exposition as GILE 2017 (of course it is for they were there to trade), but it is also fairly reasonable to spot something new, let alone when walking around in the hall of LED chips and packages (of which the market is now a deep red ocean in China).

Kicking off on 9th of June, Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition 2017, under Messe Frankfurt’s thorough organization, gathered 2,428 exhibitors from global lighting and smart technology supply chains. Within a total exhibition space of 180,000 square meters across 17 halls of the China Import and Export Fair Complex, state-of-the-art technologies and hot-button lighting trends and concepts from 21 countries and regions were presented to trade visitors expecting to source promising lighting products and smart-tech ideas.

Nanoco Group plc, a specialist in the development and manufacture of cadmium-free quantum dots and other nanomaterials, and Japanese OLED startup Kyulux Inc., announced the signing of a collaboration and joint development agreement.

Micro LED has become an obvious technology trend that even Samsung has started to eagerly tap into. According to international OLED publication OLED-info, Samsung is rumored to acquire Taiwan-based Micro LED manufacturer PlayNitride for up to US$150 million. Samsung would use the next generation display technology for VR applications and TVs in the future, the report said.

Hong Kong-based investment company Kiu Hung International Holdings Limited ("Kiu Hung International" or the "Group") plans to develop robotic technology business in the hotel industry together with Shanghai Liming Intelligent Technology Limited ("Shanghai Liming"). The 2014 Nobel Laureate physicist, Professor Shuji Nakamura, was invited to the conference named "First Launch Front-desk Robot in China", hosted by Shanghai Liming and title-sponsored by the Group to share his views on the trend and potential of the intelligent hotel technology business.

EVERLIGHT Electronics Co., Ltd., a leading player in the global LED and optoelectronics industry committed to R&D of automotive LED products, is going to showcase its newest products for automotive interior & exterior at TAIPEI AMPA 2017; and its high-tech ADB matrix intelligent headlights and ADAS application products therein are the most outstanding products; moreover, the ADB matrix intelligent LED headlight is awarded the "Innovation Awards" at the TAIPEI AMPA 2017. We sincerely welcome your visit to EVERLIGHT booth for product presentation and communication (J1212).