LEDinside conducted an interview with Mr. Louis Lam, President & CEO of OSRAM Opto Semiconductors Asia Ltd, who shed light on the role OSRAM plays in the global LED, solid-state lighting and LED lighting industries and OSRAM’s strategy regarding the Asian and Chinese markets.

Mr. Louis Lam, President & CEO of OSRAM Opto Semiconductors Asia Ltd

Quality and R&D is the Key to Making Inroads into Global SSL Market

In regard to OSRAM-OS’s new Wuxi plant, a lot of people in the industry are curious about the Wuxi plant’s role (packaging, assembly, and applications) and the company’s strategy in Asia. Mr. Lam noted that OSRAM’s Wuxi plant’s current focus is on the Chinese market, aiming at China’s rising automotive lighting market, LED public lighting, commercial lighting and LED indoor lighting. Also, the plant will also supply the global market.

Lam pointed out that in terms of LED packaging market, OSRAM’s market share ranks number two in the solid-state lighting market. The company always plans to expand its production in LED epitaxy wafers and LED package, aiming to improve itself in terms of technology and quality to the point that it can cater to the needs of every client.

As far as the future technological development is concerned, Lam is optimistic about the development of GaN-on-Si technology. Although OSRAM’s GaN-on-Si technology has not gone into mass production yet, the company has invested considerable amount of resource into it. One of the company’s edges is that the company’s LED production lines do not need to undergo drastic changes in order to adopt the said technology; it only needs to change the substrate and manufacturing process. Lam said the company will keep the media updated if there is any new development.

Automotive Lighting Sales of Different Regions Differ

LED demand in the automotive lighting market has been climbing, especially day running light (DRL), and LED lighting inside and outside the car. Lam stated that the company’s sales in Europe and the United States have been great. However, affected by the European debt crisis, the sales in Southern Europe has suffered a setback.

Lam stressed that EU requests car makers use DRL, but even without EU’s request, the consumers in Europe will want to adopt LED DRL; the same goes for the consumers in China, Korea, and Japan. LED DRL’s penetration rate is expected to further increase.

Lam pointed out that OSRAM emphasizes its quality, so the company has completed the product certifications with the car makers. In the exterior LED sector, OSRAM holds the number one position. One out of every two new cars adopts OSRAM led. He believes OSRAM’s high quality and product certifications are the reason behind the company’s leading position.

General Lighting Focuses on Not Only lm/$ But Also Quality

As for general lighting, the LED products on the market differ vastly in terms of quality, which results in price differences. Lam said that OSRAM not only has been improving its products’ efficiency and lowering its product’s lm/$, but also continues improving its products’ stability, as consumers care about prices as well as quality.

Lam noted that in the commercial lighting market, LED spotlight holds higher standard, and therefore, he is optimistic about its market prospects.

Moreover, the U.S. LED lighting market is expected to be another major market in the world besides Japan. Lam said global LED companies have been improving, and he hopes global LED industry can explore more market prospects and develop more LED solutions, which will help increase LED lighting’s penetration rate.