OLEDWorks closes Philips Lumiblade deal and announces new OLED panels
OLED sale moves Philips Lighting away from the light source business while OLEDWorks gets an infusion of IP and manufacturing capability.
OLEDWorks has announced that it has finalized the previously reported deal to acquire the OLED-centric assets and intellectual property (IP) of Royal Philips — the Lumiblade technology, manufacturing, and product portfolio previously operated under Philips Lighting. Moreover, OLEDWorks and Lumiblade teams have been working together over the past months and that cooperation has yielded the FL300L OLED panel in a new rectangular form factor that will deliver more flexibility to solid-state lighting (SSL) manufacturers seeking to deliver OLED-based general illumination products.
Philips and OLEDWorks announced the Lumiblade deal back in April as Royal Philips has sought to divest itself of its LED and lighting businesses, and Philips Lighting focuses on technology above the light source level. Ironically, the OLED deal is the first to close despite the fact that the sale of the Lumileds LED business to Go Scale Capital was announced earlier. As we reported recently, the Go Scale deal has been delayed indefinitely due to concerns by US regulators.
The Lumiblade deal will take Philips Lighting out of the light source business and provide OLEDWorks with a needed IP and manufacturing-capacity infusion. "OLEDWorks is dedicated to developing technology partnerships that emphasize our commitment to producing low-cost, high-performance, leading-edge OLED solutions for integration into lighting products," said OLEDWorks board chairman David DeJoy. "We are confident this strategic acquisition will enable the continued development of OLEDWorks' innovative technology to meet the unique needs of our customers."
Meanwhile, Philips Lighting intends to remain allied with OLEDWorks and utilize the Lumiblade panels in lighting products and systems. "With the change of ownership of our OLED components development and production business, Philips Lighting has completed another piece of its strategy to focus on lighting products, systems, and services," said Mahesh Iyer, CEO of the Philips LED Business Group. "We strongly believe that with this activity under the ownership of OLEDWorks LLC, they will continue to be a leading player in this emerging market and a highly valued supplier to Philips Lighting.”
Already the fusion of the OLEDWorks and Lumiblade organizations is delivering on the goal of a broader range of OLED panels. Previously, Philips had focused on 12×12-cm square panels such as the FL300 announced a year ago. Now the same 50-lm/W performance is available in the 6.3×24-cm FL300L. The panels output 300 lm in a 2900K-CCT white.
"OLEDWorks is dedicated to meeting and exceeding the expectations of all our customers, and the FL300L is another element in our passion to advancing OLED technology solutions," said Giana Phelan, director of business development at OLEDWorks. "With the landscape of the lighting industry constantly changing, OLEDWorks maintains committed to staying ahead of the curve to provide the highest level of lighting solutions to our customers. We always want to ensure our product offerings are consistently meeting the demands of designers who are taking advantage of the design benefits of OLED lighting technology."
Maury Wright | Editor in Chief
Maury Wright is an electronics engineer turned technology journalist, who has focused specifically on the LED & Lighting industry for the past decade. Wright first wrote for LEDs Magazine as a contractor in 2010, and took over as Editor-in-Chief in 2012. He has broad experience in technology areas ranging from microprocessors to digital media to wireless networks that he gained over 30 years in the trade press. Wright has experience running global editorial operations, such as during his tenure as worldwide editorial director of EDN Magazine, and has been instrumental in launching publication websites going back to the earliest days of the Internet. Wright has won numerous industry awards, including multiple ASBPE national awards for B2B journalism excellence, and has received finalist recognition for LEDs Magazine in the FOLIO Eddie Awards. He received a BS in electrical engineering from Auburn University.
