Konica Minolta and GE Form Strategic Alliance to Accelerate the Commercialization of OLED Lighting

Konica Minolta and GE Form Strategic Alliance to Accelerate the Commercialization of OLED Lighting

Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc., Konica Minolta Technology Center, Inc. (collectively KM) and the General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) today announced that they have signed a strategic alliance agreement to accelerate the development and commercialization of OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) devices for lighting applications. The goal is to bring OLED lighting to market within the next 3 years.

Masatoshi Matsuzaki, President, Konica Minolta Technology Center, Inc., said “Having such unprecedented attractive features as flexible, thin, light weight, and sheet form, OLED lighting is considered one of the most promising new business opportunities for us in the future. We are delighted to collaborate with GE to accelerate the development and launching of this revolutionary new lighting technology.”

Michael Idelchik, Vice President, Advanced Technology Programs, GE Global Research, said “The alliance of KM, a world leader in imaging products and GE, a global leader in lighting products, represents an extraordinary opportunity to make the commercialization of OLED lighting products a reality. Both companies have achieved significant advances in OLEDs technologies at the research and development stage. Now, we will pool our substantial resources and expertise to accelerate the development of this transformational technology.”

OLEDs are thin, organic materials sandwiched between two electrodes, which illuminate when an electrical charge is applied. They represent the next evolution in lighting products. Their widespread design capabilities will provide an entirely different way for people to light their home or businesses. Moreover, OLEDs have the potential to deliver dramatically improved levels of efficiency and environmental performance, while achieving at least the same quality of illumination found in traditional products in the marketplace today.

On June 30, 2006, KM announced that it had successfully developed a white OLED with a world record power efficiency of 64 lumens per watt at 1,000 candela per square meter — a brightness which is appropriate for lighting applications. Prior to this development, KM developed its own highly efficient and long-life blue phosphorescent materials. Applying these material technologies, along with multi-layer design technology and innovative optical design technology, KM succeeded in developing an OLED having a practical light emission level of approximately 10,000 hours.

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