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Cree Licenses White LED for Backlighting Laptops

LED industry leader Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) and Lite-On Technology Corporation announced a licensing arrangement that will enhance both companies’ ability to aggressively develop and market white LED-based products for backlighting laptop computer displays. It is the first license Cree has granted specifically for a system-level application targeting laptop displays. The arrangement includes a license for Cree’s pioneering white LED patent, U.S. Patent No. 6,600,175. The license authorizes Lite-On, a strategic chip customer for Cree located in Taiwan, to manufacture and sell light bars incorporating Cree white LEDs for use in backlighting the LCD displays of laptops. “Cree’s ‘175 patent is particularly important to companies manufacturing white LED-based display products for the laptop and PC markets, because avoiding IP disputes is essential for PC market acceptance,” noted Scott Schwab, Cree vice president and general manager of optoelectronics. “This arrangement with Lite-On is an important first step to addressing the emerging LED market in laptop displays.” “We knew we needed a strong LED technology with a broad intellectual property portfolio for our new backlighting products,” said Rex Wu, Lite-On associate vice president. “Lite-On turned to Cree to provide a significant competitive advantage for products sold into the laptop backlighting marketplace.” About […]

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Power-One and Magnetek Sign Acquisition Agreement

Power-One, Inc. (NASDAQ:PWER) has signed an agreement to purchase the Power Electronics Group of Magnetek, Inc. (NYSE:MAG). Power-One will acquire Magnetek’s Power Electronics Group for $71.7 million in cash and assumption of approximately $16.7 million in debt. The transaction is expected to close by the end of October. “The combination of Power-One and Magnetek’s Power Electronics Group brings together two businesses with considerable expertise in delivering innovative solutions to the expanding digital power management market,” said Bill Yeates, Chief Executive Officer of Power-One. “Not only is our technology complementary in many respects, but the addition of the Power Electronics Group’s R&D success and design capabilities will provide our customers with a broader and more powerful set of solutions while allowing us to further address the growing needs within the industry.” “The divestiture of Magnetek’s embedded power-electronics business accelerates our strategy of focusing on digital power and motion control systems for material handling, elevators and mining, as well as large commercial alternative energy applications,” said Thomas Boren, Magnetek’s Chief Executive Officer. “We believe that it also will enable us to pay off Magnetek’s debt, make major contributions to the Company’s pension plan, increase Stockholders’ Equity, cut corporate overhead, boost profit margins […]

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Utilities Call on DOE to Strengthen Energy-Saving Transformer Standards

Eight major utility companies are supporting strong, new national energy efficiency standards for electric distribution transformers. In a letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, the companies (PNM Resources, Exelon, Public Service Electric and Gas, Pacific Gas and Electric, Baltimore Gas and Electric, New York Power Authority, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, and Snohomish Public Utility District #1) urged the Department to substantially strengthen the agency’s proposal for transformer minimum-efficiency standards. More than 40 million distribution transformers located on utility poles and cement pads across the United States serve the crucial function of reducing electricity voltage to the levels needed to power homes and businesses. In August, DOE proposed a weak standard that falls substantially short of the levels the agency’s own study shows would maximize economic savings. The agency is accepting comments through October 18th and will name the final standard next year. Because all power travels through one or more transformers, even slight improvements in efficiency can yield huge savings. According to the DOE study, the standard supported by the companies would save 459 billion kilowatt-hours (about 50% more than the DOE proposal) and net $11.1 billion in savings (about $1.7 billion more than the DOE proposal) over 28 […]

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