The use of LEDs for lighting is hitting the news fast and furiously now.
The general lighting application is set to grow rapidly to become more than 50 percent of the demand for LEDs within just two or three years, according to
Yole Developpement, so it is no surprise that Osram AG is building another plant for the manufacture of LED components.
Osram, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siemens AG (Munich, Germany), has laid the foundation for its next back-end facility in Wuxi, China and it is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013.
The Asian region already accounts for around 35 percent of the global general lighting market and this is expected to increase to 45 percent by 2020. The Chinese lighting market is worth 8 billion euro (about $10 billion) annually and is predicted to double by 2020.
Osram plans to invest more than 100 million euro (more than $120 million) in the plant over the next five years as well as getting "comprehensive support" from Chinese partners, the company said. When finished the plant will be employ about 1,600 workers.
Front-end production of LED die will continue in Regensburg, Germany and Penang, Malaysia. Packaging of die will continue in Penang but be added to in Wuxi.
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