Osram moved a step forwards to its transformation to a high-tech company by selling its Siteco luminaires business to Stern Steward Capital, the investment arm of Stern Steward & Co. based in Munich. According to Osram, “Separation from Osram gives Siteco entrepreneurial freedom,” and Stern Stewart Capital will continue the current transformation approach. Despite that the financial details of the transaction were not revealed by both parties, Osram noted that its cost situation would also be improved with the elimination of previous Group structures. ...

Horticultural applications of LED lighting are the current trend in the lighting industry. Leading companies around the world have been developing different products to meet the increasing demands. As worldwide need for healthy, fresh food continues to grow, greenhouse growers require efficient, effective lighting to enable year-round growing. Current, powered by GE announced the release of the Arize Element Top Light, the industry’s first one-for-one LED replacement for 1000W High Pressure Sodium (HPS) products. The Arize Element features multiple light...

Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition (GILE) 2019 commences with a grand opening at the China Import and Export Fair, and will be held from June 9 to 12. The event’s host, Messe Frankfurt, points out that GILE took up 19 exhibition centers in scale with 2500 companies from 22 different countries participating in this grand occasion. It has already been 24 years since GILE’s inception, and the competition is all fired up in the lighting industry thanks to maturely developed technologies. Under the economic impact from the trade war triggered la...

Osram started a project named “SceneUnderLight”, with the University of Verona and the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) in Genova in 2015, aiming to response to the growing demand for maximum comfort and sense of security while granting large savings in energy consumption. The German company and the Italian research institutions have combined advanced computer vision technology and lighting solutions to create the invisible light switch that estimates the light propagation in offices in real-time and computes how much of it is perceived by the people. Mea...

Targeting the rising trend of indoor and vertical farming, horticulture lighting becomes a major focus for many lighting manufactures and Osram is one of them. The high tech company acquired Fluence Bioengineering, a US-based LED grow light supplier, in 2018. The company has launched LED horticultural lighting solutions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) with supports by Osram. According to Osram, Fluence’s staple full-spectrum LED lighting systems enable growers to achieve higher yields and higher quality than traditional horticultural lightin...

Starting today on May 21, LIGHTFAIR International (LFI) 2019 is taking place in Philadelphia this year. Leading LED and lighting companies across the world including Cree Lighting, Current by GE, Osram and more are presenting their latest lighting technology and innovative products at the event. Connected lighting, human centric lighting and architecture lighting are focuses of the international firms. Cree Lighting, now fully owned by Ideal Industries, will showcase its new product portfolio for indoor, outdoor and intelligent lighting at LFI 2019. Fo...

Osram announced that its new Osconiq S 3030 LED has incorporated a new quantum dots (QD) conversion technology that enables better lighting efficacy and higher color rendering indexes. (Image: Osram) Quantum dots are very small semiconductor particles which are about 10,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. When blue LED light hits the QD particles, different colors are produced depends on the size of the particles. For example, QD particles that are roughly three nanometers in size produce green light, while particles around seven nanometers emit red...

Promoting IoT applications in commercial, industrial and retail industries has been a major focus of Osram. The German company recently announced its partnership with Facility Solutions Group (FSG), a building technology system specialist design, integration, installation, for advanced smart building IoT solutions. Moreover, it also launched intelligent LED lighting fixtures for industrial IoT applications. The collaboration with FSG will enable Osram to combine its fixture-integrated sensors, controls and components with FSG’s Encelium® Light Mana...

Advancement of IoT technology enables integration of lighting and other application to improve efficiency of energy usage and save electricity cost. Commercial real estate owners are therefore actively seeking the benefits of data-driven, real-time applications that will modernize a business or learning space. Osram continues to deepen its involvement in smart application development with several strategic partners. The company has recently completed a pilot program with a Canadian university for space optimization. Osram Digital Systems and its growing ecosystem of partners are...

After releasing few warnings in February and March, Osram finally unveiled the financial results of the second quarter of its fiscal 2019 ending March 31. The results went in line with what the company has expected with revenues decreased by 13.5% YoY to EUR862 million (US$965.14 million). The adjusted EBITDA fell by 56% YoY to EUR70 million (US$78.38 million) with an adjusted EBITDA margin dropped from 16.9% to 8.1%. The net loss came to EUR90 million (US$100.78 million). Continuous weak growth in China along with ongoing trade conflicts have led ...

Last week, Mr. Herbert Willmy, CEO of OSRAM Lighting Solutions, together with Mr. Wang Yamin, CEO of Shanghai Wellmax Lighting (WELLMAX) and WELLMAX’s top executive team, visited the State Key Laboratory of Solid State Lighting (SKL), a world-class LED lighting research center with complete series of cutting-edged testing equipment and the strongest R&D capability. The group has a field tour of the SKL laboratory and held a talk on the future development of the whole lighting industry. OSRAM CEO and WELLMAX C...

As more Asian players demonstrate their progress in Micro LED, LED technology providers and researchers from Europe and North America also synchronize their advances through deepening collaboration with various solution providers. Europe: Plessey presents Micro LED AR/VR glasses; Osram joins in on Micro LED automotive display research After Plessey unveiled its GaN-on-Si monolithic Micro LED in 2018, the UK-based company has cooperated with several partners including Vuzix, JDC, Nanoco Technologies, Aixtron, Mojo Vision and others. In col...

Osram announced the completion of the acquisition of Ring Automotive, a British aftermarket specialist. The acquisition was revealed in the end of January 2019. The acquisition will allow Osram to expand its product range in the automotive sector to include more automotive electronics and accessories. After approval by the British Competitors and Market Authority (CMA) for the takeover of Ring Automotive by Osram, the partnership between the companies will officially start in May. The common goal is to respond faster and better to new trends and challenges in the cons...

Despite that the global automotive sales have slowed down in the past year due to the trade dispute and overall market decline, the demands for luxury automobiles in China and the increasing new energy (NEV) car market still bring up the penetration rate of LED in the automotive market. LEDinside sees that the market share of LED headlight and its market value will expand gradually as the price of high-power LED falls. LEDs are also adopted by other exterior lights including direction indicators and tail lights for delivering smart functions such signal projection and ...

Osram Opto Semiconductors announced that it joined a project, SmartVIZ, which aims to explore the principles of high-resolution visualization solutions using Micro LEDs. Focusing on automotive interior applications, the Micro LED project expects to present initial demonstration by October 2021. The purpose of the SmartVIZ project is to provide research basis for future transparent, high-resolution, direct-emitting visualization solutions with Micro LED technologies. Osram will partner with ASM AMICRA and Fraunhofer IISB to carry out researches focu...

On its way of transforming to a high-tech photonic company, Osram has been challenged by the weakening global market. The German company adjusted its annual forecast for fiscal year 2019 which ends by September 30, 2019. Osram said the revenue of fiscal 2019 is expected to decline between 11 and 14 percent while the previous forecast was a revenue growth between 0 and 3 percent. The company also lowered is the range of its adjusted EBITDA margin to eight and ten percent from 12 to 14 percent. In addition, Osram expects a negative free cash flow between EUR 50 million t...

The 14th Auto Lamp Industry Development Forum and the 5th Shanghai International Auto Lamp Exhibition (ALE) was held in Shanghai Automobile Exhibition Center on March 21, 2019. More tha...

With the featured of compact size and low energy consumption, the development of LED technology has led to several advanced applications including the enhanced implement of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. UV light is wide used in water purification, air disinfection and plastic curing. However, conventional UV light sources contain mercury and have a limited lifespan. UV LED is therefore a new solution. Through modern LED technology, UV LED will not only replace existing UV light source, it also opens up a wider range of applications as it can be tailored to meet va...

What will offices be like in the future? Current by GE and Osram provided some insights about how offices evolve with technology and noted that connectivity and smart lighting might be the fundamental infrastructure for setting up the future offices. Apart from providing “lighting-as-a-service” from lighting company, Osram, now positioning itself as a high-tech photonic company, sees the trend of “space-as-a-service” in the commercial real estate industry. Space-as-a-service refers to space that is procured on-demand; corporations and individual freelanc...

LED integrated wearables are becoming more and more common in the modern society for various functions. Motorbike clothing manufacturer Held is cooperating with Osram to improve visibility on the road by launching motorbike clothing that can be retrofitted with LED light modules from Osram. The lighting modules developed by Osram can be integrated into the clothing through a fabric tube and connected to a rechargeable battery pack which riders can switch on the light easily. According to Osram, the light strips offer up to seven hours of active lighting in continuous operati...

WESCO International announced that its WESCO Services subsidiary has completed the purchase of Sylvania Lighting Solution (SLS), the North American service business of Osram, following the previous announcement in January. Osram has planned to sell the SLS business in the U.S. and Canada since May 2018. On January 16, 2019, Osram announced the sale of the business to WESCO International. SLS offers a full spectrum of energy-efficient lighting upgrade, retrofit, and renovation solutions with annual sales of more than US$100 million and appro...

Indoor farming with controlled environment and LED lighting has brought agriculture to another level. Osram, as a leading photonic producer, has been an active player in the development of horticulture lighting. The company announced the development of LED-based luminaire system, Phytofy RL, which is designed to meet the increasing demands of horticulture researches at universities, private institutes and plant production in greenhouses and vertical farms. (Image: Osram) Phytofy RL is a tunable lighting system integrated UV to far-red LEDs to create various growth...

Since 2015, Osram has been the lighting partner of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC). This year, the high-tech lighting expert will again illuminate the mega event with its cutting-edge lighting technology. The 64th Eurovision Song Contest will take place From May 12 to 18 May, in Tel Aviv. The city will welcome performers from all over Europe fighting for their dream of bringing the victory home to their country. They will be accompanied by a light show full of dynamic effects, colors, shapes and dimensions. (Image: Osram; Individual lighting solutions from O...

The importance of LED lighting applications in the horticultural industry is increasing with the on-going trend of indoor and vertical farming applications. With controllable spectrum and illuminance, LED lighting is widely used in cultivation for various kinds of crops including tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, greens and cannabis. LEDinside notices that many LED and lighting companies have increased their product portfolio for horticulture lighting and pushed related technology development. According to the report of LEDinside, titled “2019 Light LED and LED ...

OSRAM and Casambi, the Finnish wireless lighting control company, partnered to deliver the interoperability between the Casambi CBU-DCS module and OSRAM DEXAL (Data Exchange for Advanced Lighting) driver. The cooperation between them further emphasizes the ability of lighting professionals to implement a wide range of sophisticated lighting solutions in smart buildings. The Casambi module is listed as an official “Works with OSRAM DEXAL” component. This interoperability means that OSRAM’s DEXAL LED drivers can be co...

Osram provided its advanced LED lighting technology to the famous winter sport event, Red Bull Crashed Ice, which was held in Fenway Park in Boston as the event’s exclusive lighting partner. During the event, Osram embedded its fully DMX controllable LED lighting in the ice to create a vivid feature in the track to guide the riders downhill and over jumps and other obstacles. In addition, the company also provided its LED-embedded gear to a rider. (image: Red Bull Crashed Ice) Osram has been an active supporter of the event. In early 2018, it equip...

Osram has continued its company profile sharpening and appointed Dieter May, who has served as Senior Vice President of the Digital Services and Business Models unit for the BMW Group, as the new CEO of OSRAM Opto Semiconductors business unit. May will begin its position to lead the LED division of Osram since May 1, 2019, taking over the management from Aldo Kamper, the previous CEO of Osarm Opto Semiconductors who became CEO of Germany’s Leoni AG after he left Osram in August 2018. (Image: BMW/OSRAM) The intensive expe...

Apart from the buyout talk confirmation, Osram also announced that it has purchased shares of Beaconinside, a German company developing IoT solutions, for expanding its digital business in location-based services. Osram aims to integrate Beaconinside’s IoT solution for retails, smart city and logistics with its sensor technology to extend product portfolio such as beacon. Stefan Kampmann, CTO of OSRAM, noted, "Beaconinside's innovative solutions enable sales-supporting advertising campaigns, detailed customer analyses and intelligent logistics monitorin...

Osram announced a confirmation about the possible buyout by Bain Capital and Carlyle Group and revealed that it is engaged in detailed discussions with the interested parties. After Osram reported its declined business performance in the first quarter of fiscal 2019 and said it has “taken a number of measures to improve revenue and returns,” the Germany company confirmed the market rumors that Bain Capital and Carlyle Group are eyeing the buyout of Osram. In November 2018, Bloomberg reported that the U.S.-based Bain Capital has been considering acquiri...

Followed the notice released by the end of January, Osram announced the results of its first quarter of fiscal 2019. The company posted a revenue of EUR 828 million (US$ 934.65 million) which declined by 15% YoY with revenue dropped in three of Osram’s business segments. The Opto Semiconductors division recorded an on-year decline in revenue of 17% and its revenue of automotive segment decreased by 11 % YoY. In the Digital segment, revenue fell by around 17% YoY due to weak market development in the general lighting segment. Olaf Berlien, CEO of Osram...