Osram’s spokeman told Reuters it foresees a rapid increase in demand for its infrared components in the light of the introduction of the state-of-the-art iris-scanning identification in mobile devices. Osram plans to recruit around 1,000 new talents at its factory in Regensburg, Germany.

(Osram/ LEDinside)

Currently focusing on its automotive unit that contributes to nearly 50% of its revenue, Osram also eyes a new potential-the smartphone market.

Osram revealed until 2020, it will start releasing new job vacancies. The optical semiconductors plant would experience a labour force increase of around 50%, mainly in production and R&D, to respond to the rising demand for LED components and infrared used for automotive driver-assistance systems.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7, recalled after several explosion incidents, sported iris-scanning infrared components Osram produced. Osram is also reported to provide Samsung with the technology for Galaxy S8, the forthcoming flagship model, likely to be announced in March and available for purchase in April.

There were also some updates from Osram’s larger rivals. Japan’s Nichia just won a couple of court cases, while Lumileds was divested by Philips and is now owned by Apollo Global Management.

Osram’s Q1 financial results reported on 8^th of Feb suggested the high demand for LED components including infrared boosted its revenue.

The German lighting manufacturer is ramping up LED components production capacity of its new plant in Malaysia with an investment of a billion euros (USD 1.064 billion).

(USD/EUR = 1.0641)