AMS-Osram. ams OSRAM AG is an Austrian semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Premstätten, Austria with a co-headquarters in Munich, Germany. The company develops and produces intelligent sensors and emitter components

In 2020 ams AG acquired the German lighting, LED, and opto-semiconductor manufacturer OSRAM. Since then, the company operates under the name ams OSRAM.

The ams OSRAM portfolio includes light emitters, sensors and CMOS ICs with embedded software solutions as well as lighting systems and specialty lamps for automotive, industrial and entertainment applications.The company mainly address the automotive, industrial and medical markets, as well as selected fields of consumer electronics.

Business segments 
ams OSRAM's activities, focused on light and sensor solutions, are organized into two main business segments, Semiconductors, with the business units Opto Semiconductors (OS) and CMOS Sensors & ASICs (CSA), and Lamps & Systems (L&S) with Automotive and Specialty Lamps.

Semiconductors 
The Semiconductors segment covers semiconductor-based products and solutions, such as LEDs, lasers, sensors, and CMOS ICs with embedded software. It mainly serves OEMs and distributors in the automotive, industrial, medical, and consumer electronics sectors.

The products of the business unit "Opto Semiconductors" enable various applications including:

 Dynamic Automotive Lighting
 LiDAR lasers
 LED cabin and ambient lights
 Horticultural illumination
 Industrial and Outdoor lighting

The product range of the business unit "CMOS Sensors & ASICs" is used for applications such as:

 In-Cabin sensing
 3D sensing
 Medical imaging, e.g. photon counting for X-ray imaging 
 Specialized solutions for portable devices such as mobile phones and tablets (e.g. display management with light sensing or camera enhancements)

Lamps & Systems 
The business segment Lamps & Systems comprises the Group’s business related to automotive and specialty lamps, with a focus on the automotive and industrial market. The L&S segment of ams OSRAM serves both original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and customers in the aftermarket channel (e.g. retailers), as well as distributors that sell on to these customer groups. 

The product range of the L&S business unit mainly covers 

 Traditional halogen and xenon lamps

 Signal lamps for vehicles
 LED-based lamps and modules
 Retrofit lighting systems

History

1978–2000
Voestalpine AG decides to expand its product and services range during the late 1970s and chooses the semiconductor industry. Due to voestalpine looking for a joint venture partner the first cooperation with AMI (American Microsystems, Inc., later AMI Semiconductor, now part of onsemi) was formed.

In 1981, this joint venture resulted in the American Micro Systems Incorporated-Austria GmbH (AMI-A). AMI owned 51% and voestalpine AG 49%. The Schloss Premstätten in Unterpremstätten (Styria, Austria) was chosen as headquarters.

In 1983, the Austrian chancellor Fred Sinowatz officially opened the 100 mm wafer factory which started its production with 300 employees.

1987 was the year when voestalpine AG took over full ownership. In September of the same year the name was changed from AMI-A to AMS (Austria Mikro Systeme International GmbH). Furthermore, there were new sales branches established in California and Germany.

In 1991, ams became one of the 25 fastest growing businesses in Europe. ams was chosen to be the "top Fab of 1992".

In June 1993, ams was the first semiconductor company in Europe to go public, at the Vienna stock exchange.

ams opened the first sales office in Asia in 1996, the company was also accredited according to the ISO 14001:1996 and EMAS. In 1997, AMS achieved first successes in the area of deep sub-micron technologies.

NASA's "Deep Space 2" mission in 1998 took off with 2 chips developed from ams and the aircraft manufacturer Boeing. These chips were designed to manage the power supply of the whole space probe. In the same year the company was accredited according to the American and German automotive industry, QS 9000 and VDA 6.1 respectively.

In 2000, ams set the foundation for the new 200 mm wafer factory. With the support of its new private equity shareholder Permira, ams left the Vienna stock exchange the same year. This resulted in a further name change to austriamicrosystems AG.

2001–2010

The new 200 mm production line starts its trial run. At the same time a license agreement has been reached between austriamicrosystems AG and TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd.), the largest global IC foundry. After the successful trial run the new 200 mm wafer factory goes ahead with the mass production in 2002. New sales offices in Singapore were opened in the same year, furthermore an expansion of locations in Hong Kong, Japan and the USA was carried out.

Silicon Strategies listed austriamicrosystems as the only European company under the top ten 2003 foundries worldwide. austriamicrosystems AG decided to continue its policy of expansion with new sales offices in South Korea, China (Suzhou), Finland and Sweden. Additionally, a design center for multimedia playback applications was set up in Bangalore, India.

2004 was the year austriamicrosystems AG found its way back to the stock exchange. Since 17 May that year austriamicrosystems AG is listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange, short SIX, in Zürich.

In 2005, the standard products as well as the capacity of the 200 mm wafer factory were expanded to compensate for the shut down of the old 100 mm factory which played a main part in the success of austriamicrosystems AG.

In 2006, the year of the 25th anniversary, a new test centre in the Philippines and a new design centre in India were built. The 200 mm wafer factory was also expanded further.

In 2007, austriamicrosystems AG stepped into new business segments in the form of a partnership with the micro motor manufacturer New Scale Technologies. In the same year the new cafeteria & conference centre (CCC) was built by the architect DI Tinchon.

ams AG reduced emissions and plans in the mid term to produce CO2-free. Nevertheless, austriamicrosystems AG reached revenues amounting to EUR 209.4m in 2010.

2011–present
In 2011, austriamicrosystems acquired 100% of the shares in Texas Advanced Optoelectronic Solutions, Inc. (TAOS), for about US$320 million (about EUR 220m). TAOS works in the area of light sensor technologies.

In May 2012, austriamicrosystems rebrands to "ams". The new brand name ams conjoins austriamicrosystems and the brand of TAOS, a supplier of intelligent lights sensors, acquired in 2011. Furthermore, ams AG acquired IDS Microchip AG in the same year.

Since 13 May 2013, Kirk Laney, former CEO of TAOS Inc., took over the interim management of the company after the step down of John Heugle, head of company for 11 years.

In June 2014, ams acquired 100% of shares in AppliedSensor, a maker of solid-state chemical gas sensors.

On 25 June 2014, ams published a statement of a possible merger of equals with Dialog Semiconductor.

In July 2015, ams acquired the advanced CMOS sensor business from NXP.

In November 2015, ams acquired CMOSIS, a supplier of area scan and miniature medical CMOS image sensors.

In June 2016, ams acquired CCMOSS.

In July 2016, ams acquired color and spectral sensing specialist MAZeT.

In October 2016, ams acquired optical packaging firm Heptagon.

In December 2016, ams acquired Incus Laboratories, active in active noise cancellation in headphones and earphones.

In March 2017, ams acquired 100% of the shares in Princeton Optronics, Inc., a provider of Vertical Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers (VCSELs), in an all-cash transaction. 

Ams was the first company in Austria to sponsor an athletic team for the Special Olympics World Winter Games that were held in Austria in March 2017. The company hosted the U.S. team athletes from 14 to 16 March before they returned to the venues to prepare for the competition. It also received a gold medal from the President of Special Olympics Austria for its outstanding support with the Host-Town Program of the World Winter Games 2017.

In September 2017, AMS announced that it would be opening site under $200 million plan in Singapore.

In March 2019, ams and Wise Road Capital, a global private equity firm focusing on the semiconductor industry and other emerging high-tech industries, create a joint venture to advance the development and sales of environmental, flow and pressure sensors for the global market.

In April 2019, ams share value surged 20% after offering their 3D sensor technology to Android makers, that was once exclusive to their largest client, Apple.

In December 2019, ams successfully closed their acquisition of German lighting, LED, and opto-semiconductor manufacturer, OSRAM.

Shareholder structure 
AMS Osram AG is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ticker symbol: AMS) since 2004. Approx. 95% of the shares are free float, around 5% are held by AMS Osram AG as treasury shares.

References 

Foundry semiconductor companies
Sensor manufacturers
Semiconductor companies of Austria
Electronics companies established in 1981
Companies listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange
Austrian brands
Economy of Styria