With the new SFH 4715AS and SFH 4716AS Osram Opto Semiconductors has increased the output of its IR Oslon Black family – for the second time in six months. This has been achieved by combining the latest chip design with an optimized package and the Nanostack technology, in which each chip has two emission centers. Depending on the type of external optics and the particular application, the infrared light emitting diodes (IREDs) can provide illumination over a distance of more than 100 meters, which make them even better light sources for many camera-based applications.

Osram Licht (Osram) has recently announced that it is proceeding with the next phase of its corporate reorganization, sending a shockwave across the LED industry. The announcement from Germany-based lighting giant follows Dutch electronics company Royal Philips’ sale of its automotive lighting and LED components business. The underperforming divisions that Osram will let go are Classic Lamps & Ballast (CLB unit) and LED Lamps & Systems (LLS unit). They account for 40% of the company’s total revenue. The divisions that Osram deems valuable and will hold on to are Opto Semiconductor (OS unit), Specialty Lighting (SP unit), and Luminaires & Solution (LS unit).

The efficient LED light sources of the Synios P 2720 family from Osram Opto Semiconductors are based on compact dimensions and a scalable package concept, opening up new design options, particularly for car headlights. They have been optimized for injecting light into light guides, and can be used as daytime running lights, position lights, and in tail light clusters. From the outside, the 15 LED versions can hardly be distinguished from each other, with all of them having the same solder pad design and package dimensions. On the inside, however, various chip sizes with an edge length between 500 µm and 1 mm, different levels of brightness, and a broad range of colors make the LEDs extremely variable.

German lighting manufacturer Osram announced it will be spinning off its conventional lighting business and LED bulbs business recently.

German lighting giant Osram announced it will be spinning off its general lighting business including general LED lighting into an independent company.

OSRAM Licht AG recorded a continued positive operative earnings development in the second quarter of fiscal 2015. The adjusted EBITA of EUR151 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 was positively impacted by favorable currency relations. This results in an adjusted EBITA margin of 10.8%. Based on today’s consultations, the Management Board therefore expects an adjusted EBITA margin of above 9.0% for fiscal 2015.

OLED taillights BMW showcased in its conceptual M4 car model at CES 2015 will be making its way to new BMW M series cars by 2016, according to latest market rumors.

Costs. That is the only thing LED chip manufacturers think about, and who can blame them? LED chip prices are expected to drop to 50 cents for a 1,000 lumen LED lamps in 2015, said Epistar Chairman B.J. Lee at 2015 LED Executive Summit hosted by SEMI at TILS 2015 in TWTC Nangang Exhibition Hall, Taipei, Taiwan. Moreover, manufacturers might be facing the challenge of raising LED efficacy to 3,000 lm/$ within two years. Tightening profits are spurring manufacturers to develop new technology to drive down costs.

Intense market competition from Chinese manufacturers and deluge of LED suppliers on the market has made cost reducing strategies crucial for LED chip manufacturers’ survival. To cope in an increasingly low profit industry, LED chip manufacturers are developing more advanced and efficient LED chip technologies, finding cheaper chip materials, or exploring untapped niche markets. Representatives from global top LED chip manufacturers Epistar, Osram, Philips Lumileds (Lumileds), and Cree addressed these pressing issues recently at 2015 LED Executive Summit hosted by SEMI at TILS 2015, TWTC Nangang Exhibition Hall.

As the lighting industry transits from traditional light sources to LEDs, Osram Licht, the world’s second largest lighting company, has responded by shifting its focus on service and maintenance business to maintain steady revenue growth, according to a recent Bloomberg report.

The new owners of Bishop's Palace House Canadian & Portland Estates planned its transformation into an exciting new retail and leisure destination. One of the main topics in this project: to showcase the work of a famous local artist, Eadward Muybridge to breathe new life into the site with eye-catching design and a visually identifiable focal point with cutting-edge LED technology.

To celebrate the start of the International Year of Light, OSRAM is illuminating the facade of the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany from July 27th to 28th with highly modern LED light. The project is supported technologically by OSRAM subsidiary Clay Paky.

The Floodlight FL 20 micro LED from the OSRAM subsidiary Siteco will be available from March 2015, and is a constituent part of the new Floodlight 20 LED luminaire family. The compact micro-floodlight with a rated luminous flux of approximately 3,000 Lumens is suitable for area lighting and facade illumination tasks.

Olaf Berlien, Chief Executive Officer of Osram Licht AG, has taken the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) as an opportunity to announce the promotion of new technologies and innovations. “We will drive new technologies and innovations by using selective incentives and investments,” Berlien told shareholders on Thursday. “I have dedicated a further EUR 10 million from the Managing Board’s budget to fund projects like Lightify,” he said. Osram's Lightify system was recently launched on the market and enables wireless control of all the features light has to offer.

Effective start 2015, Jes Munk Hansen is heading OSRAM’s Classic Lamps & Ballasts (CLB) business unit, taking on this assignment alongside his duties as CEO of the Region Americas.

Advanced lighting, front and back: Osram is represented in the BMW M4 Concept Iconic Lights not only with laser light in the headlights but also, and for the first time, with OLEDs (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) in the tail lights. These area light sources enable the lights to be made in any shape, opening up completely new design options. “The show car is an important milestone for our OLED strategy. As a leading supplier Osram wants to have a presence on the road with a series OLED product from 2016 onward”, said Marc Lünnemann, the man responsible at Osram for OLED business.

Osram recorded a strong operating performance in the first quarter of the current fiscal year that started in October 2014. With growth of 0.5 percent, revenue was slightly above the year-earlier period on a comparable basis, i.e. excluding portfolio and currency effects. In nominal terms, the company even recorded a revenue increase of five percent to almost €1.4 billion, resulting from the weakness of the euro against key currencies and the acquisition of Clay Paky. EBITA1 excluding special items rose 23 percent to EUR 151 million (US $171.45 million) in the first quarter, translating into a margin of 10.8 percent. 

With its SPL BF98-40-5 laser bar Osram Opto Semiconductors has succeeded in combining power and beam quality like never before. Thanks to its high brilliance, the laser diode considerably reduces the complexity of coupling light into fibers. Diode or fiber laser systems for material processing can be made simpler and therefore more cost-effective. Even at its maximum output of more than 60 watts the component has an impressively long life.

The most inefficient light bulbs are being sold as ‘eco’ by major brands across Europe, an investigation by Coolproducts has found, just as the UN launches the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies.

The supervisory board of OSRAM Licht has appointed Olaf Berlien as new chief executive officer (CEO). Berlien, 52, will take over his new function in January 2015. At the same time, Wolfgang Dehen will leave the company at his own request and by amicable agreement.

Osram has achieved its recently updated outlook for the fiscal year that ended in September 2014. Revenue rose one percent year over year on a comparable basis – meaning excluding portfolio and currency effects – and was more than €5.1 billion. The revenue share of LED-based products and solutions increased to 36 percent from 29 percent in fiscal 2013. In the fourth quarter, it reached already 39 percent. EBITA [1] excluding special items increased almost ten percent to EUR 449 million (US $) in fiscal 2014, translating into an EBITA margin of 8.7 percent, in particular due to positive effects from the OSRAM Push transformation program. 

Hi-Q-LED”, a publicly funded project coordinated by Osram Opto Semiconductors, has developed LEDs with an extremely high efficacy and a reduced drop in efficacy

One of Osram’s ongoing projects to overcome LED efficacy limitations is the development of microrod 3D LED technology, said Michael Schmitt, Regional Market Director, Asia-Pacific, Osram Opto Semiconductors at LEDforum 2014 which was hosted by LEDinside on Oct. 24, 2014 at Taipei, Taiwan.

The LED segment might have made significant technology advancements that have driven down costs, and made the bulbs more affordable to most households, the office lighting sector remains a difficult segment for LED manufacturers to tap into, said Michael Schmitt, Regional Market Director, Asia-Pacific, Osram Opto Semiconductors at LEDforum 2014, which took place in Taipei, Taiwan last Friday. 

Experts at Osram Opto Semiconductors will be taking the opportunity offered by the Vision Congress in Paris (October 14 and 15, 2014) to showcase an LED for car headlights which has a luminance three times that of existing versions. This means that a single LED can be used to provide a complete low beam. Several LED chips have always been needed in the past depending on the design and the type of LEDs used. The tremendous brightness is the result of a combination of UX:3 chip technology, ceramic conversion technology and high-current technology used in projection applications. In future it will be possible to design much smaller headlights – with every lighting function smaller than a box of matches.

With effect as of October 13, 2014 Osram has successfully completed the acquisition of Clay Paky, a leading provider of entertainment lighting for shows and events. All necessary approvals from the respective authorities have been granted regarding the acquisition. With this move, Osram will further expand its position in entertainment lighting. 

Nanoco Group plc (AIM:NANO), a developer and manufacturer of cadmium-free quantum dots and other nanomaterials, announces that it has signed a follow-on joint development agreement with Osram, one of the world’s largest lighting companies, in connection with the use of Nanoco cadmium-free quantum dots in general lighting.

Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. and OSRAM GmbH, Germany have extended their agreement which allows the companies to use each other’s patents for specific light emitting diode (LED), including white LED, and laser technologies.

Effective October 1, 2014 Jan-Peter Schwartz will assume responsibility as Head of worldwide External and Internal Communications and as Chief Sustainability Officer at Osram. In this function he will report to Wolfgang Dehen, Chief Executive Officer of Osram.

Osram is launching the world's first product based on organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) for car interiors in the form of a new reading lamp. The OLED Reading Light consists of a high-quality matt aluminum housing and provides a very warm and uniform light. "With the launch of the Osram OLED Reading Light in the fall we are once again providing evidence of our technological leadership and powers of innovation in the automotive lighting sector", said Hans-Joachim Schwabe, CEO of the Osram Specialty Lighting Business Unit.