Osram plans to invest up to RM4.9bil in new plant
Company says it can expand the facility in two additional stages
KULIM: Osram has plans to expand its new RM1.82bil
LED chip manufacturing facility in Kulim Hi-Tech Park (KHTP) in two additional stages involving investment costs of up to one billion euros (RM4.9bil).
Osram Licht AG chief executive officer Olaf Berlien said the new plant would require a headcount of 1,500.
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“We have spent 370mil (RM1.82bil) for the first stage.
“Osram can expand the factory in two additional stages, entailing total investment costs of up to one billion euros, including expansion of LED assembly capacities in Osram global factory alliance,” he said in his speech.
Berlien spoke at the official opening of the LED plant in KHTP by International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
Also present were Osram Opto Semiconductors business unit chief executive officer Aldo Kamper, Malaysian Investment Development Authority Datuk Azman Mahmud, and Kedah state executive councillor Dr Ku Abd Rahman Ku Ismail.
Berlien said the plan was to produce LED chips in Kulim in the medium term for premium applications, such as automotive lighting and video projection.
Berlien said thanks to the new facility at a green-field location, no compromises had to be made in the design of the factory, in addition it features the latest technology.
In comparison with the four-inch technology, the production systems for six-inch wafers produce 125% more LED chips per wafer in a single cycle, according to Berlien.
“Given our enormous recent growth rates of 19% in the LED business, we are pleased to have the new production capacities.
“Our investment in Kulim also attests to the technology shift and our transition to becoming a high-tech corporation.
“At the beginning of this decade, conventional lighting still accounted for 80% of Osram’s business.
“Today, two-thirds of our sales are based on optical semiconductors,” he added.
Osram is currently investing worldwide in the expansion of the existing six sites in its LED production network.
“Osram is expanding the plant in Regensburg, which currently has about 2,500 employees, and will hire up to 1,000 employees.
“Premium LED chips and laser diodes, which are used, for example, in high-quality car headlights, will be manufactured there as well as infrared diodes for sensors that can be used in applications including facial recognition in mobile phones, or in cars for intelligent assistance systems,” he said.
The global LED market for general light
� ing is estimated to be 6bil in 2018, roughly 6% of which is for street lighting.
“An average growth rate in the market of 7% per annum is foreseen through 2020.
“The overall market for optoeletronic components-including general lighting-will
� be 17.5bil in 2018,” Berlien said.
Meanwhile, Kamper said enormous production capacity of the new plant could in one week’s production retrofit the street lighting of New York, Rio, Hong Kong, and Berlin with LED.