08/13/2012 

In 2011, LEDs were expected to grab market share from CCFLs in the display backlighting segment. However, prices for CCFL-backlight TVs fell alongside prices for LED-backlit TVs. Now, CCFL raw materials costs have exploded, setting the stage for market share grabs by LEDs, albeit later than expected, reports Jimmy Kim, DisplaySearch.

08/10/2012 

Albemarle will expand its facility in Yeosu, Korea, with additional manufacturing capacity for PureGrowth products for MOCVD processes.

08/09/2012 

Cree saw 8% quarter-to-quarter growth in FY2012 Q4, but only 2% growth in its LED component business. Reasons could include customer pushback from Cree's move into their space, lower average selling prices for LED chips, and more efficient LED modules that use fewer chips.

08/08/2012 

The LED industry is entering its third growth cycle, general lighting, according to Yole and EPIC’s report, “Status of the LED Industry.” However, the cost of a packaged LED still needs to be reduced by a factor x10 to enable massive adoption. New business models are mandatory to capture added value of LED lighting.

08/06/2012 

Zeta Instruments will install multiple optical profilers for micron-scale surface analysis at sapphire substrate maker Rubicon Technology, for metrology and inspection on sapphire substrates and wafer production aimed at the HB-LED market.

08/02/2012 

Siemens will publicly list OSRAM via a spinoff to Siemens shareholders, rather than an IPO. Spinning off OSRAM will make the public listing more independent of capital market conditions.

07/30/2012 

Toshiba will start mass production of white LEDs on a new 200mm wafer production line in its Kaga Toshiba Electronics Corporation fab in northern Japan.

07/30/2012 

Plessey Semiconductors is installing a multi-million pound HB-LED production line at its Plymouth, UK facility, including a new AIXTRON reactor.

07/26/2012 

AIXTRON SE introduced a 5 x 200mm gallium nitride on silicon (GaN-on-Si) reactor design for its G5 Planetary Reactor MOCVD platform. AIX G5+ comprises special reactor hardware and process design, developed with customers in AIXTRON’s R&D lab.

07/24/2012 

SiC is a niche material for semiconductor, power electronics, and LED manufacturing. Yole analyzed patents related to SiC growth and wafer manufacturing to glean trends in production, R&D, top companies, barriers to entry, and more.

07/23/2012 

Strategies in Light 2013 will take place February 12-14 in Santa Clara, CA, hosted by PennWell Co.’s Strategies Unlimited and LEDs Magazine. The event’s theme is “Exploring the Growth Opportunities in the LED and Lighting Markets.”

07/20/2012 

Maxim Group analyzed MOCVD utilization and revenues at LED makers in Taiwan, finding that MOCVD orders are placed just to maintain capacity, not add, and high utilization rates are only at the top LED makers.

07/20/2012 

Veeco hosted more than 150 LED manufacturers and customers of its MOCVD products recently during its MOCVD User Meeting in Taiwan. The talks largely focused on reducing LED cost through manufacturing, as well as using silicon as an LED substrate.

07/16/2012 

LED prices are declining, as revenues are growing through 2016, according to a report from Strategies Unlimited. Trends include multi-chip packaging and different LED power levels for different applications.

07/16/2012 

The price of a LED bulb will fall by about half by 2020, hitting $11.06, according to Lux Research. With the LED chip package seeing 70%+ cost reduction, technology innovation will shift to the surrounding elements: thermal management, drivers and optics.

07/16/2012 

Oxford Instruments launched the PlasmaPro 100 etch and deposition tool for manufacturing MEMS, HB-LED, semiconductors, and other applications.

07/13/2012 

Terry Brewer, one of the newest members of SEMI's North American advisory board, talks about semiconductor industry consolidation, as well as new technologies and materials in the industry. He shares how SEMI is reacting to this evolution.

07/13/2012 

SEMICON West confirmed for Barclays that Q2 2012 orders for MOCVD tools remained flattish with the trough-like Q1 numbers, and LED makers are expected to order more tools in H2 2012.

07/11/2012 

Citi analysts surveyed the LED manufacturing market and LED demand at SEMICON West in San Francisco, CA, including a slight uptick in MOCVD orders, and some backlash against Cree's downstream ambitions.

07/10/2012 

SUSS MicroTec uncrated the third generation of the ACS200 Coating and Developing Platform, developed from the company’s ACS200Plus and Gamma platforms for a compact, highly precise MEMS, LED, and related fab tool.