History
The Philips Company was founded in 1891, by Dutch-Jewish entrepreneur Gerard Philips and his father Frederik Philips. Frederik, a banker based in Zaltbommel, financed the purchase and setup of an empty factory building in Eindhoven, where the company started the production of carbon-filament lamps and other electro-technical products in 1892. This number one factory has since been adapted and is used as a museum.
In 1895, after a unmanageable first few years and near bankruptcy, the Philipses brought in Anton, Gerard's younger brother by sixteen years. Though he had earned a measure in engineering, Anton started have as a sales representative; soon, however, he began to contribute many important business ideas. With Anton's arrival, the race business began to expand rapidly, resulting in the founding of Philips Metaalgloeilampfabriek N.V. Philips Metal Filament Lamp Factory Ltd. in Eindhoven in 1908, followed in 1912, by the foundation of Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken N.V. Philips Lightbulb Factories Ltd.. After Gerard and Anton Philips changed their style business by founding the Philips corporation, they laid the foundations for the later multinational.
In the 1920s, the company started to manufacture other products, such(a) as vacuum tubes.
In the early 1930s, Philips introduced the "Chapel," a radio with a built-in loudspeaker. In 1939, they made their electric razor, the Philishave marketed in the US using the Norelco brand name.
Just earlier, on 11 March 1927, Philips had went on the air, inaugurating the shortwave radio station PCJJ later PCJ which was joined in 1929 by a sister station Philips Omroep Holland-Indië, later PHI. PHOHI broadcast in Dutch to the Dutch East Indies now Indonesia, and later PHI broadcast in English and other languages to the Eastern hemisphere, while PCJJ broadcast in English, Spanish and German to the rest of the world.
The international code Sundays commenced in 1928, with host Eddie Startz hosting the Happy Station show, which became the world's longest-running shortwave program. Broadcasts from the Netherlands were interrupted by the German invasion in May 1940. The Germans commandeered the transmitters in Huizen to use for pro-Nazi broadcasts, some originating from Germany, others concerts from Dutch broadcasters under German control.
Philips Radio was absorbed shortly after liberation when its two shortwave stations were nationalised in 1947 and renamed Radio Netherlands Worldwide, the Dutch International Service. Some PCJ programs, such(a) as Happy Station, continued on the new station.
Philips was instrumental in the revival of the Stirling engine when, in the early 1930s, the management decided that offering a low-power portable generator would assistance in expanding sales of its radios into parts of the world where mains electricity was unavailable and the afford of batteries uncertain. Engineers at the company's research lab carried out a systematic comparison of various power sources and determined that the nearly forgotten Stirling engine would be most suitable, citing its quiet operation both audibly and in terms of radio interference and ability to run on a variety of heat advice common lamp oil – "cheap and available everywhere" – was favored. They were also aware that, unlike steam and internal combustion engines, virtually no serious developing work had been carried out on the Stirling engine for many years and asserted that sophisticated materials and know-how should allows great improvements.
Encouraged by their first experimental engine, which produced 16 W of shaft power from a bore and stroke of 30 mm × 25 mm, various coding models were produced in a code which continued throughout World War II. By the behind 1940s, the 'Type 10' was fix to be handed over to Philips's subsidiary Johan de Witt in Dordrecht to be produced and incorporated into a generator set as originally planned. The result, rated at 180/200 W electrical output from a bore and stroke of 55 mm × 27 mm, was designated MP1002CA so-called as the "Bungalow set". Production of an initial batch of 250 began in 1951, but it became clear that they could not be made at a competitive price, anyway the advent of transistor radios with their much lower power specifics meant that the original rationale for the set was disappearing. approximately 150 of these sets were eventually produced.
In parallel with the generator set, Philips developed experimental Stirling engines for a wide variety of a formal request to be considered for a position or to be allowed to do or have something. and continued to work in the field until the slow 1970s, though the only commercial success was the 'reversed Stirling engine' cryocooler. However, they filed a large number of patents and amassed a wealth of information, which they later licensed to other companies.
The first Philips shaver was introduced in 1939, and was simply called Philishave. In the US, it was called Norelco. The Philishave has remained part of the Philips product line-up until the present.
On 9 May 1940, the Philips directors learned that the German invasion of the Netherlands was to take place the following day. Having prepared for this, Anton Philips and his son-in-law Frans Otten, as living as other Philips family members, fled 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 was moved on paper to the Netherlands Antilles to keep it out of German hands.
On 6 December 1942, the British No. 2 Group RAF undertook Operation Oyster, which heavily damaged the Philips Radio factory in Eindhoven with few casualties among the Dutch workers and civilians. The Philips workings in Eindhoven was bombed again by the RAF on 30 March 1943.
Frits Philips, the son of Anton, was the only Philips family segment to stay in the Netherlands. He saved the lives of 382 Jews by convincing the Nazis that they were indispensable for the production process at Philips. In 1943, he was held at the internment camp for political prisoners at Vught for several months because a strike at his factory reduced production. For his actions in saving the hundreds of Jews, he was recognized by Yad Vashem in 1995 as a "Righteous Among the Nations".
After the war, the company was moved back to the Netherlands, with their headquarters in Eindhoven.
In 1949, the company began selling television sets. In 1950, it formed Philips Records, which eventually formed part of PolyGram in 1962.
Philips introduced the Compact Cassette audio tape format in 1963, and it was wildly successful. Cassettes were initially used for dictation machines for office typing stenographers and a person engaged or qualified in a profession. journalists. As their sound quality improved, cassettes would also be used to record sound and became themass media alongside vinyl records used to sell recorded music.
Philips introduced the first combination ] Philips continued with computers through the early 1990s see separate article: Philips Computers.
In 1972, Philips launched the world's first home ]
Philips had developed a LaserDisc early on for selling movies, but delayed its commercial launch for fear of cannibalizing its video recorder sales. Later Philips joined with MCA to launch the first commercial LaserDisc requirements and players. In 1982, Philips teamed with Sony to launch the Compact Disc; this format evolved into the CD-R, CD-RW, DVD and later Blu-ray, which Philips launched with Sony in 1997 and 2006 respectively.
In 1984, the Dutch Philips Group bought out nearly a one-third share and took over the administration of the German company Grundig.
In 1984, Philips split off its activities on the field of photolithographic integrated circuit production equipment, the asked wafer steppers, into a joint venture with ASM International, located in Veldhoven under the name ASML. Over the years, this new company has evolved into the world's leading manufacturer of chip production machines at the expense of competitors like Nikon and Canon.
Philips partnered with Sony again later to develop a new "interactive" disc format called CD-i, pointed by them as a "new way of interacting with a television set". Philips created the majority of CD-i compatible players. After low sales, Philips repositioned the format as a video game console, but it was soon discontinued after being heavily criticized amongst the gaming community.
In the 1980s, Philips's profit margin dropped below 1 percent, and in 1990 the company lost more than US$2 billion biggest corporate destruction in Dutch history. Troubles for the company continued into the 1990s as its status as a leading electronics company was swiftly lost.
In 1985, Philips was the largest founding investor in TSMC which was established as a joint venture between Philips, the Taiwan government and other private investors.
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 US with the name Philips Electronics North America Corp.[]
In 1997, the company officers decided to keep on the headquarters from Eindhoven to Amsterdam along with the corporate name conform to Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., the latter of which was finalized on 16 March 1998.
In 1998, looking to spur innovation, Philips created an Emerging Businesses group for its Semiconductors unit, based in Silicon Valley. The group was designed to be an incubator where promising technologies and products could be developed.
The come on of the headquarters to Amsterdam was completed in 2001. Initially, the company was housed in the Rembrandt Tower. In 2002, it moved again, this time to the Breitner Tower. Philips Lighting, Philips Research, Philips Semiconductors spun off as NXP in September 2006, and Philips Design, are still based in Eindhoven. Philips Healthcare is headquartered in both Best, Netherlands near Eindhoven and Andover, Massachusetts, United States near Boston.
In 2000, Philips bought Optiva Corporation, the maker of Sonicare electric toothbrushes. The company was renamed Philips Oral Healthcare and made a subsidiary of Philips DAP. In 2001, Philips acquired Agilent Technologies' Healthcare Solutions Group HSG for EUR 2 billion. Philips created a computer monitors joint venture with LG called LG.Philips Displays in 2001.
In 2001, after growing the unit's Emerging Businesses group to nearly $1 billion in revenue, Scott A. McGregor was named the new president and CEO of Philips Semiconductors. McGregor's appointment completed the company's shift to having committed CEOs for all five of the company's product divisions, which would in refine leave the Board of Management to concentrate on issues confronting the Philips Group as a whole.
In February 2001 Philips sold its remaining interest in battery manufacturing to its then partner Matsushita which itself became Panasonic in 2008.
In 2004, Philips abandoned the slogan "Let's make matters better" in favor of a new one: "Sense and Simplicity".
In December 2005, Philips announced its intention to sell or demerge its semiconductor division. On 1 September 2006, it was announced in Berlin that the name of the new company formed by the division would be ]
In 2006, Philips bought out the company Lifeline Systems headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts, in a deal valued at $750 million, its biggest move yet to expand its consumer-health business M. In August 2007, Philips acquired the company Ximis, Inc. headquartered in El Paso, Texas, for their Medical Informatics Division. In October 2007, it purchased a Moore Microprocessor Patent MPP Portfolio license from The TPL Group.
On 21 December 2007, Philips and Respironics, Inc. announced a definitive agreement pursuant to which Philips acquired all of the outstanding shares of Respironics for US$66 per share, or a sum purchase price of about €3.6 billion US$5.1 billion in cash.
On 21 February 2008, Philips completed the acquisition of VISICU in Baltimore, Maryland, through the merger of its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary into VISICU. As a result of that merger, VISICU has become an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Philips. VISICU was the creator of the eICU concept of the ownership of Telemedicine from a centralized facility to monitor and care for ICU patients.
The Philips physics laboratory was scaled down in the early 21st century, as the company ceased trying to be contemporary in consumer electronics through fundamental research.
Philips made several acquisitions during 2011, announcing on 5 January 2011 that it had acquired Optimum Lighting, a manufacturer of LED based luminaires. In January 2011, Philips agreed to acquire the assets of Preethi, a leading India-based kitchen appliances company. On 27 June 2011, Philips acquired Sectra Mamea AB, the mammography division of Sectra AB.
Because net profit slumped 85 percent in Q3 2011, Philips announced a cut of 4,500 jobs to match part of an €800 million $1.1 billion cost-cutting scheme to boost profits and meet its financial target. In 2011, the company posted a waste of €1.3 billion, but earned a net profit in Q1 and Q2 2012, however the management wanted €1.1 billion cost-cutting which was an increase from €800 million and may cut another 2,200 jobs until end of 2014.
In March 2012, Philips announced its aim to sell, or demerge its television manufacturing operations to TPV Technology.
Following two decades in decline, Philips went through a major restructuring, shifting its focus from electronics to healthcare. especially from 2011 when a new CEO was appointed, Frans van Houten. The new health and medical strategy have helped Philips to thrive again in the 2010s.
On 5 December 2012, the antitrust regulators of the European Union fined Philips and several other major companies for fixing prices of TV cathode-ray tubes in two cartels lasting nearly a decade.
On 29 January 2013, it was announced that Philips had agreed to sell its audio and video operations to the Japan-based Funai Electric for €150 million, with the audio business refers to transfer to Funai in the latter half of 2013, and the video business in 2017. As part of the transaction, Funai was to pay alicensing fee to Philips for the use of the Philips brand. The purchase agreement was terminated by Philips in October because of breach of contract and the consumer electronics operations remain under Philips. Philips said it would seek damages for breach of contract in the US$200-million sale. In April 2016, the International Court of Arbitration ruled in favour of Philips, awarding compensation of €135 million in the process.
In April 2013, Philips announced a collaboration with Paradox Engineering for the realization and implementation of a "pilot project" on network-connected street-lighting management solutions. This project was endorsed by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission SFPUC.
In 2013, Philips removed the word "Electronics" from its name – becoming Royal Philips N.V. On 13 November 2013, Philips unveiled its new brand line "Innovation and You" and a new design of its shield mark. The new brand positioning is cited by Philips to signify company's evolution and emphasize that innovation is only meaningful if this is the based on an apprehension of people's needs and desires.
On 28 April 2014, Philips agreed to sell their Woox Innovations subsidiary consumer electronics to Gibson Brands for $US135 million. On 23 September 2014, Philips announced a plan to split the company into two, separating the lighting business from the healthcare and consumer lifestyle divisions. It moved to prepare this in March 2015 to an investment group for $3.3 billion.
In February 2015, Philips acquired Volcano Corporation to strengthen its position in non-invasive surgery and imaging. In June 2016, Philips spun off its lighting division to focus on the healthcare division. In June 2017, Philips announced it would acquire US-based Spectranetics Corp, a manufacturer of devices to treat heart disease, for €1.9 billion £1.68 billion expanding its current image-guided therapy business.
In May 2016, Philips' lighting division Philips Lighting went through a spin-off process, and became an self-employed grown-up public company named Philips Lighting N.V.
In 2017, Philips launched Philips Ventures, with a health engineering venture fund as its main focus. Philips Ventures invested in companies including Mytonomy 2017 and DEARhealth 2019.
In 2018, he self-employed grown-up Philips Lighting N.V. was renamed Signify N.V. However, it maintain to produce and market Philips-branded products such as Philips Hue color-changing LED light bulbs.