Osram plant celebrates 100,000,000 xenon lamps in Berlin

Xenon is one of the foremost lighting technologies in the automotive sector

The Osram plant in Berlin is celebrating a special landmark. Since the introduction of xenon technology (high-intensity discharge) in the 1970s, 100 million xenon lamps have been produced at the plant. “Xenon technology has been an important mainstay of the lighting industry for more than four decades and even today it is still one of the top technologies in the automotive sector”, said Hans-Joachim Schwabe, CEO of the Business Unit Specialty Lighting at Osram. Over the past ten years the Berlin site has been expanded step by step into a competence center for high-intensity discharge lamps.

Launched in the 1970s, the xenon lamp made its great automotive breakthrough in 1991 in the pioneering 7 Series from BMW. Even then, the heart of the lamp, the xenon burner, was produced in Osram's Berlin plant. Today, the German lighting company is the world market leader in xenon lamps for the automotive industry, thanks largely to fully automated production, optimum product quality and lifespan.

The super bright light from xenon lamps is also greatly appreciated on film sets and for projection and medical applications. Compared to halogen lamps they consume 50 percent less energy.

Future xenon developments

Even though the trend in headlamps is increasingly step by step toward LED technology, Osram continues to develop xenon technology and is investing in new products for the automotive sector. The D9 “SHARC”, for example, is a lamp at the development stage which will herald the next generation of these light sources with greatly increased luminance and wide range of outputs. Above all, these new lamps will enable headlights to be more compact, giving designers even greater freedom. But even now, drivers can benefit from upgrading from conventional xenon lamps to Osram xenon lamps, such as the Xenarc Cool Blue Intense or Xenarc Night Breaker Unlimited, as they provide more light on the road and therefore offer greater safety thanks to improved illumination of the area in front of the car and greater range.