Nichia
 |
|
|
Native name
|
日亜化学工業株式会社 |
|---|---|
| Private KK | |
| Industry | Electronics |
| Founded | Anan, Japan (December 1956) |
| Founder | Nobuo Ogawa |
| Headquarters | Anan, Tokushima 774-8601, Japan |
|
Key people
|
Hiroyoshi Ogawa (President) |
| Products | |
|
Number of employees
|
8,600 (as of April, 2015) |
| Website | Official website |
|
Footnotes / references |
|
Nichia Corporation (日亜化学工業株式会社 Nichia Kagaku Kōgyō Kabushiki-gaisha?) is a Japanese chemical engineering and manufacturing company headquartered in Anan, Japan with global subsidiaries. It specializes in the manufacturing and distribution of phosphors, including light-emitting diodes (LEDs), laser diodes, battery materials, and calcium chloride.
The Nichia Corporation comprises two divisions — Division 1, responsible for phosphors and other chemicals, and Division 2, responsible for LEDs. In the field of phosphors the company has 50% of the Japanese market and 25% of the world market.
Nichia is the world’s largest supplier of LEDs. It designs, manufactures, and markets LEDs for display, LCD backlighting, automotive and general lighting applications with the many different leds across the entire visible spectrum. Nichia’s invention and development of white LEDs have spanned several accomplishments throughout the history of the company.
The Nichia Corporation was founded in 1956 by Nobuo Ogawa (小川 信雄, 1912-2002) at Aratano-cho, Anan, Tokushima to produce calcium phosphate for fluorescent lamp phosphors. The majority ownership is still held by the Ogawa family today.
In 1966, Nichia began production of phosphors for fluorescent lamps. In 1971, Nichia began production of phosphors for color TVs. In 1977, Nichia began the production of tri-color phosphors for fluorescent lamps.
One of Nobuo Ogawa's more well-known decisions was to support Shuji Nakamura to do research on gallium nitride light-emitting diodes, when it was generally considered a very risky business. The research turned out to be a great success; however, the company received scrutiny for awarding a bonus of ¥20,000 (US$180) to Nakamura for his 1993 invention of the first high brightness blue-light LED, which was based on gallium nitride. Nichia later settled out of court with Nakamura for ¥840 million (US$7 million), in what was then the highest bonus ever awarded by a Japanese company.
...
Wikipedia