Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO:6502) today announced that the company will start sales of white light-emitting diode (LED) packages that offer makers of general purpose and industrial LED lighting solutions a cost-competitive alternative to current LED packages. Mass production will start this month.

Toshiba White LED (Photo: Business Wire)

Production of LED chips is typically done on 2- to 4-inch wafers with an expensive sapphire substrate. Toshiba and Bridgelux, Inc. have developed a process for manufacturing gallium nitride LEDs on 200mm silicon wafers, which Toshiba has brought to a new production line at Kaga Toshiba Electronics Corporation, a discrete products manufacturing facility in northern Japan. Mass production of packages using the new line's output starts this month.

Deployment of Toshiba and Bridgelux's new gallium nitride-on-silicon (GaN-on-Si) technology to produce LED chips has allowed Toshiba to replace sapphire substrates and to produce the chips on a much more cost-competitive silicon substrate.

The low power consumption and long life of the white LED lighting is winning wide adoption in general purpose lighting, TV backlighting and other areas of application. In FY2011 the global market stood at 700 billion yen (approximately US$8.5 billion) and it is expected to almost double to 1,250 billion yen ($15.2 billion) in FY2016.

Going forward, Toshiba will promote product development and global sales toward securing a 10% share of the world market in FY2016.

Product Outline

About Toshiba

Toshiba is a world-leading diversified manufacturer, solutions provider and marketer of advanced electronic and electrical products and systems. Toshiba Group brings innovation and imagination to a wide range of businesses: digital products, including LCD TVs, notebook PCs, retail solutions and MFPs; electronic devices, including semiconductors, storage products and materials; industrial and social infrastructure systems, including power generation systems, smart community solutions, medical systems and escalators & elevators; and home appliances.
Toshiba was founded in 1875, and today operates a global network of more than 550 consolidated companies, with 202,000 employees worldwide and annual sales surpassing 6.1 trillion yen (US$74 billion). Visit Toshiba's web site at www.toshiba.co.jp/index.htm

Information in the document, including product prices and specifications, content of services and contact information, is current on the date of the press announcement, but is subject to change without prior notice.

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