- For other uses, see Philips (disambiguation).
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Royal Philips Electronics), usually known as Philips, is one of the
largest consumer electronics
producers in the world. In 2003, their sales were €29.0 billion and they employed 164,000 people in more than 60
countries. Philips is organized in a number of business units: Philips Consumer Electronics, Philips Semiconductors, Philips Lighting, Philips Medical
Systems and Philips Domestic Appliances and Personal Care.
The company was founded in 1891 by the brothers Gerard and Anton Philips (1874-1951) in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Their first products were light bulbs 'and other electrotechnical equipment'. Their first factory remains as a museum. In the 1920s, the company started to
manufacture other products, and in 1939 their first electric shaver, the
Philishave, was introduced. Philips introduced the compact audio
cassette tape, which was wildly successful, though their attempt to set a standard for video cassette recorders, the V2000, was unsuccessful in the face of competition from the Betamax and VHS standards.
On the 9th of May 1940, the Philips directors
were informed about the German invasion
of the Netherlands on May 10th.
They decided to leave the country and flee to the United States. They
took 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. Many secret
research facilities were locked and succesfully hidden from the invaders, which allowed the company to get up to speed again
quickly after the war.
It's also believed at the same time that Philips has both before and during the war supplied enormous amounts of electric
equipment to the German occupier, which has led some people to think that they have basically collaborated with the Nazis, like many German firms in their day.
However, there is no reason to assume that Philips itself or its management ever sympathized with the Nazis or their ideologies.
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.
In 1963, Philips introduced the Musicassette, or "compact audio cassette".
In 1972, Philips introduced the laserdisc player, using technology invented already in the 1960s.
In 1983, Philips launched the compact
disc in partnership with Sony.
In 1992, Philips launched the ill-fated Digital Compact Cassette format.
In 2003, Philips successfully launched the coffeemaker Senseo across Europe. Its
ingenious concept is to provide high quality coffee cups from custom-made pads. The "original" Senseo pads are produced by
Douwe Egberts.
In 2004, Philips abandoned the slogan "Let's make things better" in favor for a new
one : "Sense and Simplicity".
ASM Lithography is a
spin-off from a division of Philips.
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
Companies acquired by Philips through the years include Magnavox, Signetics, Mullard, VLSI, and Westinghouse. Philips does not own what was GTE
Sylvania as some may think as that name is now owned by the light bulb division of Siemens, AG. Philips also owns the naming rights to
Philips Arena in Atlanta. 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.
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