FAQ: The Many Names of Osram/Sylvania/Lightify/LEDvance

The marketing people at Osram don’t seem to be able to settle on a name for their smart devices line. They keep changing it, as well as changing whether they will have one name for the entire world or different names for different regions.

For a long time the company was known as “Sylvania” in North America and “Osram” in Europe.

But then when they introduced their smart devices, they called all of those “Osram Lightify” no matter what region they were sold in.

North American retailers didn’t like that because they like to stock all of the brand together, so they switched back to calling the line “Sylvania Lightify.” .

Then they sold those lines to a Chinese company, MLS, and decided they would change the company’s name worldwide to LEDVance, which looks good on paper, but is almost impossible to say.

So after about a year they decided to go back to using the Sylvania name again in North America, but instead of calling the smart line “Lightify,” it’s now “Sylvania Smart+.”

The brand name in Europe became “Osram Smart+”

It’s been the same devices all along, it’s just the name that has changed.

So if you are looking for device type handlers or device discussions, just be alert to the fact that the name has changed over time.

And knowing these folks, it will probably change again in 2018. :sunglasses:

2018 Europe:

2018: US:

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Thank you for the explanation. I was wondering why i couldnt find the garden spot lights on amazon anymore. Now I found them!

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Or go out of business, LOL. That segment of the market has got to be undergoing huge changes as they all struggle for a foothold…

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Yeah, it’s very complicated.

Osram itself (the German parent company) should be OK, they do about €7 billion a year in business, operate in over 100 countries, and seem to be profitable.

But just last year they spun off the residential lighting division, including the smart home business, under the new LEDvance name as a subsidiary, bringing in a Chinese-led consortium for about a one third ownership of the subsidiary.

It’s still huge, just under €2 billion a year just for LEDvance products, but whether the smart home devices have a future is a different question. Although zigbee is very popular in China and LEDvance had a small business line for restaurants and offices which has been both popular and profitable. So who knows. They just announced their very first HomeKit product, a Bluetooth RGBW bulb that will not require a bridge, under the “Sylvania Smart Home” name.

https://www.sylvania.com/en-us/newsroom/press-releases/Pages/SYLVANIA-Smart-Home-Introduces-Apple-HomeKit-enabled-Hub-Free-Bulb-.aspx

So lots of churn, no clear momentum yet.

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I wonder if that’s why my local Lowe’s seems to have all the Sylvania Lightify products on clearance. I was able to get one of the outdoor light strips for $63. I was happy with that purchase. :wink:

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Could be, they are coming out in new boxes with the “Sylvania smart home plus” branding.

Makes perfect sense then. Thanks for the heads up (as always).

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Great explanation. I came across a couple Osram products last year on clearance at my local Manards which got me jump started in the home automation game.

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