Vēlamies padalities ar zīņām no Pasaules jaunumiem led industrijā raksts ENG valodā.

1.Half a Million LED Christmas Light Display Breaks World Record

Australian man takes Christmas light decorations to the extreme, breaking the world record with other half a million LED Christmas lights strung around his property, according to Digital Trends.
David Richards of Canberra, Australia has covered his property with so many lights his house is no longer visible. Taking over a month to set up, 502,156 lights were strung up around Mr. Richards and his family’s property. The spectacular display has earned them the prestige of most number of Christmas lights in the Guinness World Record book.

With half a million lights decorating his home, Mr. Richards' electricity bill will likely skyrocket an additional US $2,300 (NT $68,000). However, aside from wanting to break a world record, the decorations are also in part to raise money for charity. The family was able to raise US $71,000 in 2011.
“I have always loved Christmas. Having the Christmas lights with the community coming in and sharing it is a time when you get to know people you probably should know better,” said Mr. Richards.

2.[Update] Nichia Expands LED Patent Litigation Against Everlight in U.S.

Nichia Corp. of Japan announced that it has filed a new complaint in its multinational patent infringement dispute against Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd.of Taiwan. In an amended complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on November 22, Nichia accuses Everlight, Everlight’s subsidiaries Everlight Americas, Inc. (“Everlight Americas”) and Zenaro Lighting, Inc. (“Zenaro”), and Zenaro’s distributor Zitroz LLC of infringing four Nichia patents regarding light-emitting diodes (“LEDs”).  

Nichia and Everlight are currently involved in patent disputes in several countries, including the United States, Japan, and Germany. 

Nichia developed the key technologies used to make white LEDs, is the world’s leading manufacturer of LEDs, and for decades has been a leader in LED and laser diode technology.   

3.J.P. Morgan Forecast Increased Bargaining Space as LED Lighting Demands Surpass Backlight in 2014

The industry is focusing its attention on LED lighting market growth performance in 2014. The demand for LED lighting will surpass that of LED backlight during the beginning of 2014, according to a recent report by J.P. Morgan. The dispersed LED lighting market is rewriting market game rules. LED manufacturers are hoping to overcome consumer congestion which led to limited bargaining space. With the arrival of a new era in LED lighting, manufacturers hope to enjoy more stable gross profit performance and larger space for price negotiations. 

LED lighting demand is estimated to surpass that of LED backlight in 2014. LED product price drops have contributed largely to increased consumer usage, said the financial service firm. Current payback time for commercial luminaries A19 and PAR28 has already been reduced to a year or less. LED bulb price has room to drop 30 percent by 2015 which will attract more consumers to replacement LED bulbs economic benefits. The LED industry welcomes the new lighting era. J.P. Morgan forecasts penetration rate in Nov. 2013 will reach around 11 percent, and only reached 5 percent last year. LED lighting penetration is hoped to be over 20 percent before 2015.  

LED lighting demands will bring structural changes to the LED industry, said J.P. Morgan. The LED lighting market is more dispersed than the LED backlight market where consumers are highly concentrated. The top three global lighting manufactures Philips, Osram, and GE make up 30spercent of the global market share. This dispersed nature if the LED lighting market will bring more revenue and bargaining space than LED backlight products in the past. 

4.Samsung to Bring Life back into LED Business

It is no surprise with LED lighting demand on the rise that Samsung Electronics would want to begin strengthening their LED business. According to Business Korea, Samsung has begun recruiting LED professionals on December 1st both domestically and internationally.

This sudden move towards LEDs has sparked the industry’s interest. Samsung has begun to recruit professionals in a wide variety of fields ranging from technology, R&D, marketing, LED modules, and finished goods.

Although the company’s LED business was considered as one of five future growth engines for the company, due to business never fully prospering, a rumor sprung up around July that Samsung planned to sell 50 percent of the business to Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical.

5.Rise in LED Demand to Spur Sapphire Substrate Sales

Currently 80 percent of sapphire applications are used in sapphire substrate while the other 20 percent is for non-substrate materials, according to Chinese-language online media Finance.com.cn estimations. Sapphire that is used in substrate is mainly applied in LED lighting and Si On Sapphire (SOS) related products, with LED lighting accounting  for over 90 percent. Therefore demands from LED lighting directly affect sapphire substrate and is the market’s main focus. 

Demand in LED is expected to rise in 2014 and sapphire substrate is hoped to follow suit. LED lighting products price drops are anticipated to continue, where some products have already reached prices equivalent to CFL which is spurring a rapid increase in LED lighting demands. This year will also see a global move towards banning incandescent luminaries. EU, Japan, and other regions have already begun implementing these new standards in 1H13. Other regions are projected to carry out related standards after the end of the year advancing LED lighting demand penetration rates which is estimated to continue drive sapphire substrate material demands back up. The Chinese media estimatedthat sapphire substrate supply to demand ratio in 2014 to further increase to 91 percent supply is hoped to improve. 

iPhone application is opening up a new application venue for sapphire substrate. If new Apple products launched in 2014 use sapphire substrate in protect covers, 2014-2015 has a possibility to reach 40 million in sales generating RMB 120 million (US $19 million) in profit. This will drive up sapphire substrate demand to 97.14 million pieces a year, 29.14 pieces a year for 2-inch equivalent making 2014 almost equal to the lowest volume amount for the entire LED application market for sapphire substrate. According to these statistics, the sapphire substrate market is hoped to grow larger than five times.