Philips
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Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Royal Philips Electronics N.V.), usually known as Philips, (Euronext: [PHIA]
As a chip maker, Philips Semiconductors is among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders.
History
The company was founded in 1891 by Gerard Philips 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, and in 1939 its first electric razor, the Philishave, was introduced. Philips markets its shavers in the USA using the Norelco 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.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, 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[[Citing sources 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 target that was deliberately bombed by the allied forces during the war.
Postwar era
In 1997 the decision was made to move to Amsterdam. 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. Philips Lighting, Philips Research, Philips Semiconductors and Philips Design, are still based in Eindhoven.Major consumer electronics products
In 1891, Gerard Philips founds Philips in Eindhoven.
In 1963, Philips introduced the Musicassette, or "compact audio cassette".
In 1978, Philips introduced the laserdisc player, using technology invented already in the 1960s.
In 1978, Philips introduced the Philips G7000, a videogame console that was released in the US as the Magnavox Odyssey².
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 disastrous 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.
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.
The company receives a royalty on every DVD manufactured [link].
Medical systems products
Imaging Systems
Defibrillators
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Diagnostic Monitoring
Patient Monitoring
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CEOs
Past and present CEO:- 1891–1922: Gerard Philips
- 1922–1939: Anton Philips
- 1939–1961: Frans Otten
- 1961–1971: Frits Philips
- 1971–1977: Henk van Riemsdijk
- 1977–1981: Nico Rodenburg
- 1982–1986: Wisse Dekker
- 1986–1990: Cornelis Van der Klugt
- 1990–1996: Jan Timmer
- 1996–2001: Cor Boonstra
- 2001 to date: Gerard Kleisterlee
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 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 the official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup[link]
Worldwide
Philips has many different divisions in many different countries.
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 hygene ).
- 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.
- Mullard Equipment Limited which produce product for the military
- Consumer product manufacturing in Croydon
- London Carriers, logistics and transport division.
External links
General
- [Philips on the Internet]
- [Philips Research]
- [Philips office locator]
- [Philips in the UK]
- [Royal Philips Electronics NV - Fact Sheet - Hoover's Online]
- [Bloomberg report on Semiconductors spinoff (Dec 2005)]
Consumer Electronics
- [Philips Consumer website]
- [Philips CD-i], History of
- [What is the CD-i?]
Semiconductors
- [Philips Semiconductors]
- [Philips Semiconductors] - related articles
Medical Systems
- [Philips medical systems] - for new systems
- [Used Philips medical imaging equipment and parts] - top remarketer
Lighting
- [Philips Lighting Company Worldwide]
- [Philips Lighting - North America]
- [Bulbs.com] - Joins forces with Philips to sell light bulbs online.
| AEX companies of the Netherlands | |
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| ABN AMRO | AEGON | Ahold | Akzo Nobel | ASML | Buhrmann | DSM | Fortis | Getronics | Hagemeyer | Heineken | ING Group | KPN | Numico | Philips | Reed Elsevier | Royal Dutch Shell | SBM Offshore | TomTom | TNT | Unilever | Vedior | VNU | Wolters Kluwer | |
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