Philips

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For other uses, see Philips (disambiguation).
Royal Philips Electronics N.V.
Type Public (Euronext: PHIA, NYSE: PHG)
Founded 1891 Eindhoven
Headquarters Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Key people Gerard Kleisterlee, CEO
Industry Electronics
Products Consumer electronics
Domestic Appliances
Lighting
Medical systems
Revenue €30.395 billion (2005)[2]
Net income €2.868 billion (2005)[3]
Employees 125,500 (2007)[1]
Slogan Sense and Simplicity
Website www.philips.com
Philips HQ in Amsterdam
Philips HQ in Amsterdam

Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Royal Philips Electronics N.V.), usually known as Philips, (Euronext: PHIA, NYSE: PHG) is one of the largest electronics companies in the world, founded and headquartered in the Netherlands. In 2006, its sales were €26.976 billion[4] and it employed 121,732 people in more than 60 countries[5]. Philips is organized in a number of divisions: Philips Consumer Electronics, Philips Lighting, Philips Medical Systems and Philips Domestic Appliances and Personal Care.

Contents

[edit] History

The company was founded in 1891 by Gerard Philips, a maternal cousin of Karl Marx, in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Its first products were light bulbs 'and other electrotechnical equipment'. Its first factory remains as a museum. In the 1920s, the company started to manufacture other products, such as vacuum tubes, In 1927 they acquired the British vacuum tube manufacturers Mullard and in 1932 the German tube manufacturer Valvo, both of which became daughter companies. In 1939 they introduced their electric razor, the Philishave (marketed in the USA using the Norelco brand name). Philips introduced the compact audio cassette tape, which was wildly successful, though its attempt to set a standard for video cassette recorders, the V2000, was unsuccessful in the face of competition from the Betamax and especially VHS standards.

[edit] World War II

Philips shield

On May 9, 1940, the Philips directors were informed about the German invasion of the Netherlands to take place on May 10. They decided to leave the country and flee to the United States, taking a large amount of the company capital with them. Operating from the US as the North American Philips Company, they managed to run the company throughout the war. At the same time, the company itself was moved to the Netherlands Antilles (on paper) to keep it out of German hands. After the war it was moved back to the Netherlands, with their headquarters in Eindhoven. Many secret research facilities were locked and successfully hidden from the invaders, which allowed the company to get up to speed again quickly after the war.

It is also believed that Philips - both before and during the war - supplied enormous amounts of electric equipment to the German occupation forces, which has led some people to think that the company collaborated with the Nazis[citation needed] , like many other firms in their day. However, there is no evidence to suggest that Philips itself or its management ever sympathized with the Nazis or their ideologies. The only Philips family member who did not leave the country, Frits Philips, saved the lives of 382 Jews by indicating to the Nazis that they were indispensable for the production process at Philips. In 1996, he was awarded the Yad Vashem reward by the Israeli ambassador for his actions. Clearly, there is little Philips could have done to prevent the Germans from abusing their production facilities and forcing their employees to perform slave labor during the occupation. The production facility in Eindhoven was the only Dutch industrial target that was deliberately bombed by the allied forces during the war.

[edit] Postwar era

In 1991, the company's name was changed from N.V. Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken to Philips Electronics N.V. At the same time, North American Philips was formally dissolved, and a new corporate division was formed in the U.S. with the name Philips Electronics North America Corp.

In 1997 the decision was made to move to Amsterdam, along with the corporate name change to Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. The move was completed in 2001. Initially, the company was housed in the Rembrandt tower, but in 2002 they moved again, this time to the Breitner tower. In a sense, the move to Amsterdam can be considered a return to the company's roots, because Gerard Philips lived in Amsterdam when he came up with the idea of building a light bulb factory. He also conducted his first experiments in the field of mass production of light bulbs there, together with Jan Reesse. Philips Lighting, Philips Research, Philips Semiconductors (spun off as NXP in September 2006) and Philips Design, are still based in Eindhoven. Philips Medical is headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, USA (since moving from Best, NL in 2002).

[edit] Sale of Semiconductors

As a chip maker, Philips Semiconductors was among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders.

In December 2005, Philips announced its intention to make the Semiconductor Division into a separate legal entity. This process of "disentanglement" was completed on 1 October 2006.

On 2 August 2006, Philips completed an agreement to sell a controlling 80.1% stake in Philips Semiconductors to a consortium of private equity investors consisting of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), Silver Lake Partners and AlpInvest Partners. The sale completed a process, which began December 2005, with its decision to create a separate legal entity for Semiconductors and to pursue all strategic options. Six weeks before, ahead of its online dialogue, through a letter to 8,000 of Philips managers, it was announced that they were speeding up the transformation of Semiconductors into a stand-alone entity with majority ownership by a third party. It was stated then that "this is much more than just a transaction: it is probably the most significant milestone on a long journey of change for Philips and the beginning of a new chapter for every one – especially those involved with Semiconductors".

In its more than 115 year history, this counts as a big step that is definitely changing the profile of the company. Philips was one of few companies that successfully made the transition from the electrical world of the 19th century into the electronic age, starting its semiconductor activity in 1953 and building it into a global top 10 player in its industry. As such, Semiconductors was at the heart of many innovations in Philips over the past 50 years.

Agreeing to start a process that would ultimately lead to the decision to sell the Semiconductor Division therefore was one of the toughest decisions that the Board of Management ever had to make.

On 21 August 2006, Bain Capital and Apax Partners announced that they had signed definitive commitments to join the expanded consortium headed by KKR that is to acquire the controlling stake in the Semiconductors Division.

On 1 September 2006, it was announced in Berlin that the name of the new semiconductor company founded by Philips is NXP Semiconductors.

Coinciding with the sale of the Semiconductor Division, Philips also announced that they would drop the word 'Electronics' from the company name, thus becoming simply Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Royal Philips N.V.).

[edit] Major consumer electronics products

Philips Videopac G7000
Philips Videopac G7000

In 1951, Philips introduced the Philishave two-headed rotary shaver, marketed in the USA under the Norelco name.

In 1963, Philips introduced the Compact Cassette.

In 1978, Philips introduced the laserdisc player, using technology invented in the 1960s.

In 1979, Philips introduced the Video 2000-system: a technically superior design, but a commercial failure.

In 1982, Philips launched the Compact Disc in partnership with Sony.

In 1991, Philips introduced the CD-i, the Compact Disc Interactive system which had many video-game console-type features.

In 1992, Philips launched the ill-fated Digital Compact Cassette format.

The company receives a royalty on every DVD manufactured [1].

[edit] Medical systems products

[edit] Healthcare Informatics

  • iSite PACS
  • Xcelera

[edit] Imaging Systems

[edit] Defibrillators

  • Equipment
  • Software
  • Accessories

[edit] Diagnostic Monitoring

  • Diagnostic ECG

[edit] Patient Monitoring

  • Multi-Measurement Servers
  • Anesthetic Gas Monitoring
  • Blood Pressure
  • Capnography
  • ECG
  • Hemodynamic
  • Neurological
  • Pulse Oximetry
  • Temperature
  • Transcutaneous Gases
  • Ventilation
  • Clinical Information Systems (OB TraceVue, CompuRecord, CareVue Chart)

[edit] CEOs

Past and present CEOs:

[edit] Other

Companies acquired by Philips through the years include Magnavox, Signetics, Mullard, VLSI, portions of Westinghouse and the consumer electronics operations of Philco and Sylvania. Philips abandoned the Sylvania trademark which is now owned by SLI (Sylvania Lighting International) except in Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and the USA where it's owned by the Osram unit of Siemens. Philips also owns a 96.5% share in the light-emitting diode manufacturer Lumileds.

Philips also owns the naming rights to Philips Arena in Atlanta and to the Philips Championship the premier basketball league in Australia, which is traditionally known as the National Basketball League. In 2006 Philips bought out the company Lifeline Systems headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Philips sponsors the Philips Monsters of Rock festival in many countries.

In 1913, to celebrate the Dutch 100 years of independence from France, Philips founded a sports club for its employees. The club was called Philips Sport Vereniging, or PSV Eindhoven, as it is now known.

Since the Football World Cup 1978 in Argentina, Philips has been an official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup[2]

In 2001, Philips successfully launched the Senseo coffeemaker, first in the Netherlands and from 2002 onwards, in other countries across Europe. It produces coffee by brewing from custom-made pods containing coffee grounds. The original Senseo pods are produced by Douwe Egberts. The Senseo has been available in the US since 2004.

In 2004, Philips abandoned the slogan "Let's make things better" in favour of a new one: "Sense and Simplicity".

ASM Lithography is a spin-off from a division of Philips.

Philips works with 'The Juice Master' Jason Vale, to endorse their Aluminium Wide Chute Juicer.

[edit] Worldwide

Philips has many different divisions in many different countries.

[edit] Australia

Philips in Australia has its headquarters in Sydney, New South Wales. The company employs over 400 people nationwide. Regional offices are located in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. IT services are provided by P-GIS (CAS, CIS & BTS).

Current operating divisions/activities include;

  • Philips Medical Systems
  • Philips Consumer Electronics
  • Philips Lighting
  • Philips Dictation Systems

Philips Australia was founded in 1927 and has been involved in many activities over the years , esp manufacturing. Today it is essentaily a sales and support office.

As a result of Project LION (divestment of semiconductors), Australia's ranking rises from 43rd in the Philips world in terms of turnover to 18th.

[edit] United Kingdom

Philips in the United Kingdom has its headquarters in Guildford, Surrey. The concern employs over 2500 people nationwide.

  • Philips Applied Technology, Redhill, Surrey develops new products and sub-systems including digital TV and communication technologies.
  • Philips Business Communications, Cambridge offers voice and data communications products, specialising in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications, IP Telephony, data networking, voice processing, command and control systems and cordless and mobile telephony.
  • Philips Consumer Products, Guildford provides sales and marketing for televisions, including High Definition televisions, DVD recorders, hi-fi and portable audio, CD recorders, PC peripherals, cordless telephones, home and kitchen appliances, personal care (shavers, hair dryers, body beauty and oral hygiene ).
  • Philips Dictation Systems, Colchester, Essex.
  • Philips Lighting: sales from Guildford and manufacture in Hamilton, Lanarkshire.
  • Philips Medical Systems, Reigate, Surrey. Sales and technical support for X-ray, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, patient monitoring, magnetic resonance, computed tomography, and resuscitation products.
  • Philips Research Laboratories, Redhill, Surrey. Originally these were the Mullard Research Laboratories.
  • Philips Semiconductors, Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire and Southampton, Hampshire, both also earlier part of Mullard. These now become part of NXP.

In the past, Philips UK also included

  • Mullard Equipment Limited (MEL) which produced products for the military
  • Consumer product manufacturing in Croydon
  • London Carriers, logistics and transport division.
  • Pye Telecommunications Ltd of Cambridge
  • TMC Limited of Malmesbury

[edit] India

Philips started operations in India at Kolkata (Calcutta) in 1930 under the name Philips Electrical Co. (India) Pvt Ltd, comprising a staff of 75. It was a sales outlet for Philips lamps imported from overseas.

In 1938 ,Philips India set up its first Indian lamp-manufacturing factory in Kolkata. After the Second World War in 1948, Philips started manufacturing radios in Kolkata. In 1959, a second radio factory is established near Pune.

  • In 1957, the company is converted into a public limited company, renamed "Philips India Ltd".
  • In 1965 on 3rd April, the millionth Philips radio is manufactured in India.
  • In 1970 a new consumer electronics factory is started in Pimpri near Pune. (This factory is now closed. It was closed in 2006.)
  • In 1982, Philips brought colour television transmission to India with the supply of four outdoor broadcast vans to Doordarshan during the IX Asian Games.
  • In 1996, the Philips Software Centre was established in Bangalore.

[edit] Poland

[edit] Global

Philips also used to sell major household appliances (whitegoods) under the name Philips. After selling the Major Domestic Appliances division to Whirlpool Corporation it changed via Philips Whirlpool and Whirlpool Philips to Whirlpool only.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.philips.nl/About/careers/Section-14235/Index.html
  2. ^ http://www.philips.com/assets/Downloadablefile//2005-Annual-Report-15168.pdf
  3. ^ http://www.philips.com/assets/Downloadablefile//2005-Annual-Report-15168.pdf
  4. ^ http://www.philips.com/mt/ir/2006results/report
  5. ^ http://www.philips.com/mt/ir/2006results/report

Philips Facts & figures

[edit] External links

[edit] General

[edit] Consumer Electronics

[edit] Semiconductors

[edit] Medical Systems

[edit] Lighting


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