Aug 3 2007
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of opto-semiconductors, will be exiting the production of passive matrix displays based on organic LEDs (OLEDs) at the end of the year. The company will be concentrating its OLED activities on developing market-ready OLED lighting solutions. As a result, the display manufacturing line in Penang, Malaysia, will cease production at the end of the year. The 270 employees there will be transferred to other activities within OSRAM Opto Semiconductors including the new LED chip production facility in Penang. Jobs are being sought in other parts of the company for the OLED product team in the USA. No employees in Germany are affected. OSRAM Opto Semiconductors will honor the existing obligations toward its customers.
Since the end of 2003, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors has been manufacturing and marketing passive matrix displays based on OLEDs under the brand name of Pictiva.
Worldwide demand for the displays, which are used predominantly in communication systems, industrial applications and mobile consumer electronics, has lagged far behind the company’s expectations. Against this background, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors has decided to withdraw from the display business and concentrate exclusively on the core business of lighting.
Dr. Rudiger Muller, CEO at OSRAM Opto Semiconductors, commented: "We have decided for strategic reasons to withdraw from the passive matrix display business and close our production line in Penang. Obviously we shall honor our obligations toward our customers and employees and look for constructive solutions in close cooperation with these groups. Our attention in the OLED sector will now be focused exclusively on our core business, lighting solutions with organic LEDs, for example for area lighting." OSRAM is among the leading group of research companies worldwide in this respect and expects to launch the first market-ready products in the next few years. A team of 50 people is currently working in the research center in Regensburg on the development of products and production methods for OLED lighting. "The experience we have gained in the display sector will speed up the process considerably," said Muller.
OLEDs (organic light emitting diodes) operate on the same principle as LEDs but are manufactured using organic materials. It is generally agreed that their product characteristics of thinness and flexibility will revolutionize the world of lighting and enable new forms and types of light sources to be developed.