Business briefs

15 Apr 2005

Including news from Osram, Cree, Corning, Hella and more.

•  Osram Opto Semiconductors has reached the first milestone in a $4.65 million project funded by the US Department of Energy to save energy in commercial and private lighting applications. The firm has developed a prototype OLED source based on two white emitting 5 x 7.6 cm tiles that each have a luminous efficiency of 7 lm/W and a brightness of 250 Cd/m². Ultimately Osram plans to deliver a 32 tile device with a luminous efficiency of 40 lm/W. The project is due to end in 2007.

•  Corning has delivered a 1.8 m mirror blank to the Pan-STARRS telescope project which is being coordinated by the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy (IFA). The IFA is leading the effort to design and implement an astronomical survey system to spot potential earth-impacting asteroids and comets. Corning's mirror blank will serve as the primary mirror for the pan-STARRS PS-1 telescope.

•  LED maker Cree has announced third quarter revenue of $96.7 million, representing a 25% increase in the company’s financial performance compared with the same period last year. For the nine month period ended March 27, 2005, the firm reported revenue of $290 million, which is up 34% on 2004’s figures.

•  Automotive lighting supplier Hella has developed a prototype headlamp that uses white LEDs for high beam, low beam, vehicle sidemarkers and daytime running lights. According to the firm, the prototype delivers 1000 lumens luminous flux in the low beam and matches the light output of a xenon headlamp. Headlamps with LEDs for main lighting functions already meet SAE standards in the US and will meet ECE regulations in Europe by 2008.

•  TriQuint Semiconductor is to restructure its business by selling its optoelectronics operation, based in Pennsylvania, US, and Matamoros, Mexico, to US firm CyOptics. CyOptics plans to employ the majority of TriQuint’s optoelectronics workforce – 100 employees in Pennsylvania and 150 employees in Matamoros.

•  Cambridge Technology, an expert in galvanometer-based laser scanning components, has appointed Wavelab Scientific of Singapore as its distributor for Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. "The southeast Asia market is showing continuing strength with good growth potential," commented Cambridge Technology's David Freihofer.

•  Flat panel display analyst DisplaySearch has reported that the cost of TFT LCDs could fall by as much as 62% from 2005 to 2008 as more cost effective fabs come online. The firm has also announced that it has established two offices in China to cover the country's rapidly growing and strategically important display market.