Osram has strengthened its service business in the U.S. and acquired the business operations of Houston, Texas-based Maneri-Agraz Enterprises, a national provider of energy-efficient lighting solutions in commercial and industrial facilities. The profitable company has annual revenue in the low double-digit millions (based on U.S. dollars). Maneri-Agraz’s client base includes large, well-known food and beverage manufacturing and distribution facilities, as well as technology companies and aerospace facilities, among others. Maneri-Agraz will be part of Osram’s service division Sylvania Lighting Solutions (SLS), which is a segment of Osram’s Lighting Solutions business unit. 

Ledvance, the fully-owned Osram subsidiary, is bringing the flagship of its current Substitube portfolio to market in February that enables energy costs to be reduced by up to 90 percent compared to applications with traditional fluorescent tubes. The LED replacement for T5 tubes is also new to the portfolio, featuring real glass that prevents undesired expansion and sagging of the lamps.

It is reported by Reuters on 30th of Jan that a spokesman of lighting manufacturer Osram announced the company has been approved by the German government to sell its Lamps unit to an association of Chinese bidders for 400 million euros (USD 425 million).

The new Siemens corporate headquarters in Munich, Germany has a forward looking and variable spatial design and utilization concept. This places high demands on the lighting, which must not only be energy-efficient but flexible as well. Osram supplied the lighting solutions, fulfilled the requirements of the globally active technology corporation and also demonstrated that light can be more than just lighting. The light in this case supports the successful architectural unison of heritage building sections with a highly modern new construction, and the well-being of approximately 1,200 employees at the site. The integration of various lighting scenarios in a light management system ensures utilization of light according to needs and therefore high energy efficiency.

Osram is close to receiving approval from the German government to go ahead with the sales of its general lighting business LEDVANCE to a Chinese investment consortium headed by IDG Capital Partners (IDG), reported DrivingVisionNews.com.

Osram CFO Ingo Bank doused rumors fueled in late 2016 about acquisition talks with Chinese investor Go Scale Capital during an interview with Bloomberg recently.

Osram, a leading global lighting and technology company and the global No. 1 in automotive car lighting, is the exclusive lighting supplier for Oasis, the latest concept vehicle from Rinspeed. The Switzerland-based think tank is known for its visionary mobility concepts and this latest concept vehicle is designed to reimagine what the driverless vehicle experience could look and feel like in the future. Rinspeed will launch the Oasis at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The vehicle will be on display during CES 2017 at the Harman exhibit at the Hard Rock Hotel, Jan. 4-7, 2017.

Osram, the global No. 1 in automotive car lighting, will unveil its latest high-tech automotive applications at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Jan. 5-8, 2017. “Osram’s car lighting technologies are designed to offer drivers smart and stylish design options, but most importantly, to significantly enhance road safety,” said Olaf Berlien, CEO of OSRAM Licht AG. “Laser-based car lighting is much brighter and enables a doubled high-beam range. The improved down-road visibility and clarity for the drivers increases safety for all on the road.” The fatality rate of night-time travel is up to four times that of day-time travel. A glare-free full-beam is another of Osram’s solutions to enhance visibility.

Before celebrating the New Year, Chinese-language newspaper UDN in Taiwan has a tradition of conducting an annual poll, requesting readers to pick out a word that best represents the year. For 2016, the Taiwanese people chose the Chinese character Ku (苦), which can be translated as a bitter taste, hardships or even a painful experience. Asked how 2016 went, most in the LED industry would probably agree it was another hard year that left a particularly bitter aftertaste.

High-performance sport meets high-performance lighting: Osram crowned the celebrations commemorating the 110th brand anniversary with a spectacular event at the top of the Zugspitze, attended by some of Germany's best ice hockey players. Eight members of Germany's championship winning team, EHC Red Bull Munich, played an evening ice-hockey game against a stunning alpine backdrop, with the help of high-tech lighting provided by Osram.

Lighting manufacturer Osram, which celebrates its 110-year brand anniversary this year, is joined by another famous institution: the Westin Excelsior Hotel in Rome was opened in 1906 and is therefore celebrating its 110 years anniversary. To mark the occasion, Claypaky – a company of the Osram group – illuminated the venerable hotel, whose past guests have already included celebrities like Pablo Picasso, Elizabeth Taylor and the Rolling Stones, in a particularly spectacular fashion from November 5 to 20. Following the video projection shown at the Patent Office in Berlin during the Festival of Light in October, this was the second lighting installation being presented by Osram for its brand anniversary. 

The new, decorative DL 30 LED town and park luminaire from Osram radiantly illuminates towns and cities. Whether for squares, crossings, parks or residential areas, the new LED generation for illuminating urban areas meets the essential requirements of municipal authorities and architects: innovative functions in combination with a high-quality design, providing modern, inspiring options for designing urban environments. 

The new Scriptus LED luminaire from Osram already underscores its aspirations upon its launch at the Pinakothek der Moderne. The indoor luminaire was selected for the "House of Wonders" design exhibition by Werner Aisslinger currently to be seen in the Pinakothek der Moderne art and design museum in Munich, Germany. Together with an OLED luminaire survey, two contributions from Osram have thus managed to centrally enrich the exhibition of the internationally renowned designer.

The new IR Topled D5140 photodiode from Osram Opto Semiconductors requires considerably less pc board space than before. It enables more compact sensors to be produced for monitoring fitness levels, for example in fitness armbands. The spectral sensitivity of the D5140 has been optimized for visible light and allows precise heart rate measurements using red or green light. The component is also ideal as an ambient light sensor. 

Osram Lighting Solutions was distinguished with the Global SSL Showcase Top 100 Award by the International Solid State Lighting Alliance (ISA) for its spectacular LED solution in the "Wuhan – Two Rivers and Four Banks" project. The world's largest synchronized LED light show extends across 320 buildings, has a length of 20 km, and covers the banks of the two rivers Jangtse and Han that flow through the city. Osram also received the coveted award last year for its unique lighting solution in the Sistine Chapel.

Air-conditioning systems can be breeding grounds for bacteria and viruses, particularly if they are not cleaned regularly. What’s more, air conditioning systems can distribute these pathogens throughout the entire room. With Air Zing 2020 from Osram, a UV light based retrofit solution for window air conditioning units these germs and organisms are being effectively combated for the first time. The UV light produced by the device covers the air and the heat exchanger within the air conditioning system, deactivating organisms such as mold, bacteria and viruses.

German’s largest labor union IG Metall announced it will prevent any attempts made by Chinese investors to acquire lighting giant Osram, indicating the escalating backlash against Chinese involvement in the nation’s high-tech sector, reported Financial Times and other media last week.

Revenue rises about 6% on a comparable basis in 2016. Adjusted EBITA margin increases to 12.5%.  Proposed dividend of EUR 1.00 (US $1.13) per share. Osram managing board expects growth pace to continue in 2017.

Osram is expanding its expertise in smart outdoor lighting systems for cities by acquiring a minority stake in the Dutch software specialist Tvilight. The lighting maker will hold 47.5% of the company, which offers sensor technology and smart light management software for smart city solutions, among other things. Tvilight offers a platform for cities and other public space stakeholders to realize smart city visions and will continue to provide an open platform for suppliers of smart city solutions. 

Imagine using your smartphone to analyze your breakfast, lunch and evening meal. Now you can, thanks to the new broadband infrared LED from Osram Opto Semiconductors. The company is using converter technology for infrared emitters for the first time. The result is an LED that emits broadband infrared light in a wavelength range from 650 to 1,050 nanometers (nm), opening up infrared spectrometry for the consumer market. One option would be a compact sensor – like a USB stick – which would be used with an appropriate smartphone app to measure calories, freshness or nutritional content.

Osram Opto Semiconductors has launched the Oslon Black Flat S series, the world’s first surface mountable LEDs with up to five individually controllable chips. Thanks also to the contrast ratio provided by the package, they are predestined for use in ADB (Adaptive Driving Beam) headlights. Switchable light segments enable oncoming traffic and traffic further ahead on the road to be masked out, making driving more comfortable and safer. With their improved thermal properties, these high-power LEDs offer system benefits and are suitable as an attractive entry-level ADB solution even for vehicles in the compact class. The new 3-chip version in the Oslon Black Flat S series has been available since October 2016, and the versions with four and five chips will be available from January 2017. 

The new rear lights for the new Audi TT RS feature OLEDs (Organic Light Emitting Diode) from lighting manufacturer Osram – currently the only company to offer this innovative lighting technology for automotive applications. The organic area light sources are highly flexible and enable innovative design solutions for the automotive sector. “We are delighted that our OLEDs in the new Audi TT RS are now used in a large volume production vehicle,” said Hans-Joachim Schwabe, CEO Specialty Lighting at Osram, describing the lighting manufacturer’s pioneering role in the OLED business.

OSRAM Opto Semiconductors has recently entered into LED technology and patent license agreements with a multinational company based in Japan. The technology license encompasses certain proprietary LED epitaxy, chip and package technologies of the Japanese company. It is accompanied by a comprehensive LED patent license for Osram.

The German government has temporarily halted Chinese consortium headed by strategic investor IDG Capital Partners (IDG) to acquire Osram’s general lighting business LEDVANCE, and have put the deal under review, Reuters cited German magazine WirtschaftsWoche recent report.

Chinese LED manufacturers have been very active in international acquisitions in recent years. One of the most successful representatives in the LED lighting industry this year has been Forest Lighting (MLS) and a consortium of Chinese investors acquired Osram’s general lighting business LEDVANCE. Other Chinese investors also showed interest in absorbing the company recently, with market rumors about San’an Opto’s acquisition of Osram spreading like wildfire recently.

Chinese investors are not the only ones showing interest in purchasing Siemen’s 17% stake in Osram, according to a latest report from German business magazine Manager Magazin.

San’an Opto said that the company has engaged in preliminary discussions with Osram upon a potential acquisition or partnership. However, the two parties only met once to discuss related issues so far.

San’an Opto clarified rumors that it was in acquisition talks with Osram on Monday.

A German research alliance with well-known members from industry and research has developed the basis for smart, high resolution LED headlights, which takes adaptive forward lighting to a new dimension. The demonstration model was developed by overall project manager Osram in collaboration with the project partners Daimler, Fraunhofer, Hella and Infineon. Both headlights contain three LED light sources, each with 1,024 individually controllable light points (pixels). This means that the headlight can be adapted very precisely to suit the respective traffic situation to ensure optimum light conditions at all times without dazzling other drivers. 

Effective Oct. 4, 2016, Osram, a leading global lighting and technology company, has successfully completed the acquisition of Novità Technologies, a U.S. manufacturer of automotive LED modules which are used primarily in tail lights, fog lights and daytime running lights. With this move, Osram will further expand its position in the U.S. automotive LED market. “The successful closing of this transaction is a further step in our strategy to strengthen our leading position in automotive lighting and to expand our LED automotive portfolio for project business,” said Hans-Joachim Schwabe, CEO of the Specialty Lighting business unit.