in future with the objective of further expanding this position

The South Korea Plant have been growing rapidly in recent years as development advances of OLED products for uses such as displays and lighting. In 2011,  Idemitsu Kosan established Idemitsu Electronic Materials Korea Co., Ltd. in South Korea to enhance its structure for supplying OLED materials, by increasing its production capacity and increasing the number of production base. In March 2012 Idemitsu started construction of the plant in the Dangdong Industrial Complex in Paju-city, Gyeonggi-do. The factory buildings were completed at the end of September 2012, and production of OLED materials will begin soon.Instrument Systems GmbH, a Munich company specialized in lighting measurement equipment, is sold by the Company founder and President Richard Distl to Konica Minolta Optics, Inc. The subsidiary company Optronik Berlin GmbH is also included in the sale.Together, we now cover all segments of display and light-source measurement and we are positioned as number one in this area.” Konica Minolta Optics and Instrument Systems will cooperate closely on product development in future with the objective of further expanding this position.

The company was established in 1986, and it will expand the sensing division of the Japanese Group with its successful product range. The Instrument Systems brand and the locations in Munich and Berlin will be retained. Additionally, the previous owner Richard Distl will continue as President and CEO.The business year 2011/12 closed in June with the best result since the company was founded. Combined sales with subsidiary company Optronik Berlin rose by 27% to 30.3 million euros – following on from 23.9 million euros in the business year 2010/11. The company achieved improvement in the area of display metrology. A number of major orders from leading brand manufacturers for consumer electronics had been drivers for this growth.Toshihiko Karasaki, President of Konica Minolta Optics, sees the acquisition of the company with a high global reputation as aligning with the Group’s strategy: “Our goal is to have a leading global position in all our corporate divisions and to integrate international talent within our group. Instrument Systems is the best company in LED lighting measurement to consistently implement this strategy.

Panasonic Eco Solutions, a division of Panasonic North America has developed a strategic alliance with Lighthouse Technologies in distributing the latter’s LED video display solutions for the North American market.According to Panasonic, it will not only offer Lighthouse's LED video display technology, but also offer Lighthouse customers new products and services not previously available.It contends that the new alliance will create new solutions that incorporate Panasonic's array of product technology, including professional displays and broadcast equipment, and a suite of services including global logistics, financing and deep engineering services and support.And Panasonic plans to offer these services through an extensive network of channel partners.Taiwan LED maker Formosa Epitaxy Inc. (FOREPI) has entered into  the Japanese and global markets under the which is taking orders for the Taiwanese manufacturer using its shops in Japan and overseas.

As San’an Optoelectronics of mainland China is approved by Taiwan government to buy into FOREPI in a private equity placement, Mitsui's stake in FOREPI will be watered down to 12% and becomes  the No.2 shareholder of FOREPI.According to Mitsui executives, for the time being the company has no plan to increase its holding in FOREPI although San’an’s acquisition will affect its ownership. They said San’an’s involvement will further boost FOREPI’s competitiveness in international markets.Fengren Jian , FOREPI Chairman pointed out that San’an’s partnership will solve his company’s problem of failing to win orders from international heavyweight buyers because of insignificant production size. He estimated cooperating with the mainland Chinese LED epitaxy-wafer manufacturer would convince more LED-application suppliers to come to his company.