Enhanced Version Of Acriche Delivers 50% Higher Brightness, More Competitive at 40% Lower Pricing
Seoul Semiconductor (KOSDAQ; 046890), the eighth-largest LED manufacturer in the world, announced today worldwide release of an upgraded version of Acriche, the world’s first semiconductor lighting source for AC power outlets in US, Europe and Asia. The new Acriche, package type emitting 200 lumens, is being provided as an emitter with features including higher brightness of 200 lumens at 3.3 Watt, which is nearly 60 lm/W or 50% brighter than the version released last November.
Due to its advanced high-yield device fabrication methods and the economics of high capacity, Seoul Semiconductor is able to reduce the price of the enhanced version of Acriche by 40%, making it more competitively priced to penetrate the conventional lighting market.
These enhancements further underscore Acriche competitive advantage over conventional lighting and conventional LEDs, which includes Acriche’s unique capability of plugging directly into the AC power outlets of homes and offices without the need for an AC-DC converter. Seoul Semiconductor is cooperating with Nitride Semiconductor in Japan for Acriche. Seoul Semiconductor has also registered its patents in major countries including Korea, Japan and the US for Acriche.
The new Acriche is sold as a single emitter without the heat sink PCB which enables greater flexibility for users to design the PCB type and array emitters as they see fit. This characteristic broadens the range of applications for Acriche. With its upgraded packaging, Acriche is the only semiconductor lighting source capable of withstanding 4-watt level of high power. This is expected to spur rapid adoption of Acriche for general lighting applications such as down light and architectural lighting such as MR16.
Acriche’s can also be used in power systems ranging from 100 ~ 120 volt and 220 ~ 230 volts, a unique feature that affords the universal application of the technology in power systems in the US as well as in countries like Korea, EU, China, India, the UK, and Japan.
“Acriche outpaces conventional LEDs in many aspects,” said Do Hyung Kim, head of the Acriche unit at Seoul Semiconductor. “Acriche has a longer lifespan compared to conventional LEDs, and does not require an AC-DC converter, which can add another $5 per 5W to the cost of the product. This makes Acriche more cost-effective with the added benefit that it can be directly applied to lighting fixtures for architectural and machinery lights that run from AC power systems. Acriche’s share of the conventional lighting market has the potential to reach tens of billions of dollars.”
Seoul Semiconductor is planning to increase Acriche’s brightness from the current 60 lm/W to 80 lm/W with the package of 250 lumens by the fourth quarter of 2007; and to 120 lm/w with the package of 400 lumens before the end of 2008. It is expected to replace about $100 billion of the lighting market all over the world.
If Acriche were to replace all the incandescent and fluorescent lamps used in Korea today, it will reduce an estimated $5.3 billion in annual electricity produced by five one-million-kilowatt plants, and 0.8 million tons of carbon dioxide emission from 5 power plants. Acriche is part of the solution and global effort to reduce CO2 emission. Already countries like US, Australia, New Zealand, and Cuba have proposed or passed legislations to replace incandescent lamps with better efficient lights. Acriche does not contain environmentally harmful substances such as mercury, nitrogen or lead like other conventional lights.
About Seoul Semiconductor:
Seoul Semiconductor is the largest LED lighting solutions manufacturer in Korea, and eighth-largest in the world according to Strategies Unlimited. Seoul Semiconductor has been named to Forbes' and BusinessWeek's lists as one of the most promising Asian companies. Its product, Acriche was recently named as "Product of the Year 2006" by Elektronik, one of the most prestigious electronics magazines in Europe. Seoul semiconductor's primary business areas are LED packaging and custom module manufacturing. It provides a full range of LED products including AC-driven semiconductor light source, Acriche, High-brightness Power, Side View, Top, Chip, Lamp and High Flux LEDs, and custom type modules. Applications for the company's LED products include general lighting, signage, back lighting for mobile phones, TVs, notebook computers, automotive lighting, home appliances, signals, etc. Seoul Semiconductor reported US$200 million in sales in 2006. It has 1,251 patents and 100 licenses as of June 30, 2007. Seoul Semiconductor has 3 overseas corporate offices and 13 branches. Its products are also represented worldwide by more than 90 distributors.
