Taiwanese LED manufacturer Lextar has approved leading U.S. LED manufacturer Cree’s NT $83 million investment in the company during a recent shareholder meeting, according to several Taiwanese media reports.

AgiLight, a leading manufacturer and marketer of high performing LED (light emitting diode) sign lighting solutions has signed a distribution agreement with Europe’s leading lighting solutions provider, Vink Lighting Solutions. According to the agreement, Vink will represent AgiLight’s complete lines of PRO Series, SignRayz®, BoxRayz® sign lighting products and LED Power Supplies.

To accelerate Civilight North America’s commitment to offering high quality and high performance indoor LED lamps in the United States, Mexico and Canada, the company has appointed five new lighting industry veterans to sales and marketing positions. The new national sales and marketing team will service distributors, specifiers and lighting professionals. The vice president of sales and the marketing director will report directly to Jeffrey E. Lagaly, CEO of Civilight North America.

Outlines investment of INR 600 million (US $9.86 million) in next three years to set up operations, distribution and retail infrastructure, including exclusive brand stores in top 30 cities

Rubicon Technology announced that Raja Parvez will step down as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors, effective immediately. The Board has appointed William Weissman, currently CFO, as interim CEO to ensure a smooth transition and to lead Rubicon’s executive team. Chairman Don Aquilano will lead a Board search for a permanent CEO with the assistance of a leading executive search firm.

Vishay Intertechnology, one of the world's largest manufacturers of discrete semiconductors and passive electronic components, today announced that it has acquired 88.95 percent of the outstanding shares of Taiwan-based Capella Microsystems Inc. (GreTai Securities Market: 3582), a fabless IC design company specializing in optoelectronic products, pursuant to its previously announced tender offer.

On Sept. 5, 2014, Chinese LED manufacturer Honglitronic announced it signed an “investment partnership agreement” with Nanchang City government in Jiangxi Province, China, and is currently constructing a new LED manufacturing base in the city. The investment was approved by the company’s board of trustees in a recent meeting, according to a Securities Times report.

Batteries Plus, the Wisconsin-based operator and franchisor of Batteries Plus Bulbs stores, announced today that it has acquired privately held LED Hut Ltd., a leading provider of LED lighting products, including bulbs and light fixtures, to customers throughout Europe.

The new agreement between leading U.S. LED manufacturer Cree and Taiwan electronics firm Lextar, which stipulates Cree will invest $US 83 million in the Taiwanese firm, comes as a surprise, according to LEDinside, a subsidiary of the Taiwan-based market research firm TrendForce. Under the agreement, Cree and Lextar will also cooperate on LED chip supply and royalty-bearing licenses for certain Cree LED chips. 

Leading U.S. LED manufacturer Cree surprised the LED industry on Aug.26, 2014 with the announcement of an investment partnership totaling US $83 million to purchase 83 million Lextar shares at a price of NT$30 (US $1.00) per share. The company also stated the partnership included long-term LED chip supply agreement and royalty-bearing license agreements for certain Cree LED chips. Why has Cree decided to invest in Lextar now?

USHIO (TOKYO:6925) (President and CEO: Shiro Sugata), announced that its wholly owned subsidiary USHIO OPTO SEMICONDUCTORS, INC., headquartered in Tokyo, has signed a demerger agreement with Oclaro Japan (President: Tadayuki Kanno), a wholly owned subsidiary of Oclaro (CEO: Greg Dougherty). Through this agreement, USHIO OPTO SEMICONDUCTORS will acquire the LED, red, violet and part of the infrared laser diode business from Oclaro Japan. The acquired activity is primarily located in Komoro, Japan and includes approximately 80 employees.

Philips will be speeding up the overhaul of traditional light business in favor of LED as more customers switch to energy efficient products, according to a Reuters report.

Taiwanese lighting manufacturer Everlight has released a statement that clearly shows the company’s aim of developing the Chinese lighting market, the statement also assured investors recent restructures were made to meet challenges ahead. The notice outlined the company’s intent to attract more distributors in the future.

Top Taiwanese LED chip manufacturers Epistar and FOREPI have officially merged, the two companies announced at a joint press conference held in Taipei, Taiwan on June 30, 2014. The two companies announced the merger will integrate the two companies resources, production capacity, and staff to meet market demands and improve revenue performances.

Philips signed a multilateral agreement with Xuchang City government in China and VisionMax (Shanghai) Electronic Technology (VisionMax) to establish a LED lighting manufacturing base, according to a report by GG-LED.com.

Korean manufacturer Baewoon Electronics and Chinese LED manufacturer Foshan Nationstar Optoelectronics have signed a LED lighting Strategic Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), according to a recent report by Korean media AJU Business Daily. 

MaxLite®, a global manufacturing of energy-efficient lamps and lighting fixtures, has announced the appointment of Donille Perrone to Director of Marketing. Perrone reports directly to Thomas Rhee, Executive Vice President of MaxLite. Perrone brings over 15 years of marketing experience with a strong lighting background.

Intelligent lighting solutions company Lighting Science® today announced the election of retired General and former White House National Security Advisor to President Obama, James L. Jones, as a member of the Company’s Board of Directors. His election went into effect April 1, 2014. 

Zumtobel announced plans of slashing 600 jobs, about 8 percent of its workforce to double operating profit margin by 2016 to 2017 and stay competitive against Asian manufacturers, according to a Reuters report.

Panasonic will be closing its OLED business in April 2014, according to report by Japanese news agency Kyodo News.

The LED industry performance has been much better than last year, demands have been pretty good for backlight, lighting and other components, said Everlight Chairman Robert Yeh. In addition, Everlight’s acquisition of German luminaire company WOFI in 2013 will allow Everlight revenue to break new records in 2014.

The maturation of LED lighting has given mid-power LED products star status. Philips Lumileds, a major player in the international lighting scene, has shown its resolve in taking mid-power LEDs to another level. Besides releasing four new mid-power LED products in March, the company has introduced a whole new binning method into its new products. Philips Lumileds is providing mid-power LEDs with excellent lighting quality to differentiate itself from competitors in the mid-power product market, said Sean Zhou, Regional Marketing Director, Asia, Philips Lumileds. 

Chinese LED manufacturer Honglitronic announced company board of trustees approved plan to “Deregister Shenzhen subsidiary Ledia Lighting Technology” in April, 9, 2013 is now effective, according to a report from Chinese-language financial news website Hithink RoyalFlush Information Network.

Unwilling to sit on the sidelines of the promising lighting chip market, China’s largest AlInGaP chip manufacturer Changelight has finally decided to enter InGaN LED epiwafer market.

Quantum Electro Opto Systems (QEOS) announced today that it is entering the LED lighting and LED lighting systems business. QEOS had previously commercialized its Tilted Charge Dynamics™ (TCD) device technology to produce the world’s fastest LED, which also featured lower cost, smaller size, and importantly, extremely low total power usage; thus providing a highly “Green Energy” product for the communications industry.  The company is now leveraging its R&D capability in materials and device design, optical lens technology and packaging, to bring forth new “Smart+” LED Lighting Systems, combining eco-friendly green technology with digitally-driven and Internet-enabled smart lighting.