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[5] and it employed
125,500 people in more than 60 countries[6]. Philips is
organized in a number of divisions: Philips Consumer Electronics, Philips
Lighting, Philips Medical Systems and Philips Domestic Appliances and Personal Care. Philips is the main sponsor of football club
PSV.
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 subsidiaries. In 1939 they introduced their
electric razor, the Philishave (marketed in the USA
using the Norelco brand name).
World War II
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.
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, 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[7]. In 1996, he was awarded the Yad Vashem reward by the Israeli ambassador for his actions. 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.
Postwar era
After the war the company was moved back to the Netherlands, with their headquarters in Eindhoven. Many secret research
facilities had been locked and successfully hidden from the invaders, which allowed the company to get up to speed again quickly
after the war.
Philips introduced the compact audio cassette tape in 1963 and 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.
In 1982, Philips developed the Compact Disc in partnership with Sony.
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, United States (since moving from
Best, Netherlands in 2002).
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 October2006.
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.).
Corporate affairs
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.
CEOs
Past and present CEOs:
Aquisitions
Companies acquired by Philips through the years include Amperex, Magnavox, Signetics, Mullard,
VLSI, Agilent Healthcare Solutions Group,
Marconi Medical Systems, ADAC Labs, ATL Ultrasound, 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. In 2006 Philips bought out the company Lifeline Systems headquartered in
Framingham, Massachusetts. In
2007 Philips acquired the company Ximis, Inc. headquartered in
El Paso, TX for their Medical Informatics Division.[8]
Sponsorships and naming rights
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, as it
is now known.
Since the Football World Cup 1978 in Argentina, Philips has been an official
sponsor of the FIFA World Cup[9]
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.
Worldwide presence
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. Whirlpool bought a 53% stake in Philips' major appliance
operations to form Whirlpool International. Whirlpool bought Philips' remaining interest in Whirlpool International in 1991.
United States
Philips' American headquarters is Philips Electronics North America Corporation, 1251 Avenue of the Americas, New York City, New York.[2] Official
website in the US.
Philips Lighting has its corporate office in Somerset, New
Jersey
with manufacturing plants in:
distribution centers in:
Philips Medical Systems (PMS) is headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts. The
North American sales organisation is based in Bothell, Washington. There are also
manufacturing facilities in Andover, Bothell, Cleveland, and Milpitas.
Philips Domestic Appliances and Personal Care Company has its corporate office in Stamford, Connecticut.
Philips Research has a laboratory in Briarcliff Manor, NY.
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 (also responsible for New Zealand operations)
- Philips Consumer Electronics
- Philips Lighting (also responsible for New Zealand operations)
- Philips Dictation Systems
Philips Australia was founded in 1927 and has been involved in many activities over the years, esp manufacturing.
Today it is essentially 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.
United Kingdom
Philips UK has its headquarters in
Guildford, Surrey. The company employs over 2500 people
nationwide. Here is a directions Map to Philips UK.
- 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
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 DD National during the IX Asian
Games.
- In 1996, the Philips Software Centre was established in Bangalore.
Poland
México
- The Philips Mexicana SA de CV corporate office is based in Mexico City
There several manufacturing plants in Mexico, some are:
Philips Lighting in:
Philips Consumer Electronics in:
Philios Domestic Appliances used to be manufactured in a large factory in Industrial Vallejo sector of Mexico City but was
closed in 2003-2004.
Major consumer electronics products
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.
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
pads containing coffee grounds. The original Senseo pads are produced by Douwe Egberts.
The Senseo has been available in the US since 2004.
The company receives a royalty on every DVD manufactured.[10]
Medical systems products
Healthcare Informatics
- iSite PACS
- ViewForum
- Xcelera
Imaging Systems
Defibrillators
- Equipment
- Software
- Accessories
|
Diagnostic Monitoring
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)
|
See also
Spin-Offs
References
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
General
Consumer Electronics
Semiconductors
Medical Systems
Lighting
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