Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Royal Philips, commonly known as Philips) is a Dutch diversified technology company headquartered in Amsterdam with primary divisions focused in the areas of Healthcare, Consumer Lifestyle and Lighting. It was founded in Eindhoven in 1891 by Gerard Philips and his father Frederik. It is one of the largest electronics companies in the world and employs around 122,000 people across more than 60 countries.
Philips is organized into three main divisions: Philips Consumer Lifestyle (formerly Philips Consumer Electronics and Philips Domestic Appliances and Personal Care), Philips Healthcare (formerly Philips Medical Systems) and Philips Lighting. As of 2012 Philips was the largest manufacturer of lighting in the world measured by applicable revenues. In 2013, the company announced the sale of the bulk of its remaining consumer electronics operations to Japan's Funai Electric Co but in October 2013, the deal to Funai Electric Co was broken off and the consumer electronics operations remain under Philips. Philips said it would seek damages for breach of contract in the $200-million sale.
Philips has a primary listing on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange and is a constituent of the AEX index. It has a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Philips Company was founded in 1891 by Gerard Philips and his father Frederik. Frederik, a banker based in Zaltbommel, financed the purchase and setup of a modest, empty factory building in Eindhoven, where the company started the production of carbon-filament lamps and other electro-technical products in 1892. This first factory has been adapted and is used as a museum.
In 1895, after a difficult first few years and near bankruptcy, the Philipses brought in Anton, Gerard's younger brother by sixteen years. Though he had earned a degree in engineering, Anton started work as a sales representative; soon, however, he began to contribute many important business ideas. With Anton's arrival, the family business began to expand rapidly, resulting in the founding of Philips Metaalgloeilampfabriek N.V. (Philips Metal Filament Lamp Factory Ltd.) in Eindhoven in 1907, followed in 1912 by the foundation of Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken N.V. (Philips Lightbulb Factories Ltd.). After Gerard and Anton Philips changed their family business by founding the Philips corporation, they laid the foundations for the later electronics multinational.
In the 1920s, the company started to manufacture other products, such as vacuum tubes. In 1939 they introduced their electric razor, the Philishave (marketed in the USA using the Norelco brand name). The "Chapel" is a radio with built-in loudspeaker, which was designed during the early 1930s.
Companies acquired by Philips through the years include Amperex, Magnavox, Signetics, Mullard, VLSI, Agilent Healthcare Solutions Group, Marconi Medical Systems, ADAC Laboratories, ATL Ultrasound, portions of Westinghouse and the consumer electronics operations of Philco and Sylvania. Philips abandoned the Sylvania trademark which is now owned by Havells Sylvania except in Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and the USA where it is owned by the Osram unit of Siemens. Formed in November 1999 as an equal joint venture between Philips and Agilent Technologies, the light-emitting diode manufacturer Lumileds became a subsidiary of Phillips Lighting in August 2005 and a fully owned subsidiary in December 2006. On January 20, 2006, Philips Electronics NV said it would buy Lifeline Systems Inc in a deal valued at $750 million, its biggest move yet to expand its consumer-health business.
Philips is registered in the Netherlands as a naamloze vennootschap and has its world headquarters in Amsterdam. At the end of 2013 Philips had 111 manufacturing facilities, 59 R&D Facilities across 26 countries and sales and service operations in around 100 countries.
Philips is organized into three main divisions: Philips Consumer Lifestyle (formerly Philips Consumer Electronics and Philips Domestic Appliances and Personal Care), Philips Healthcare (formerly Philips Medical Systems) and Philips Lighting. Philips achieved total revenues of €22.579 billion in 2011, of which €8.852 billion were generated by Philips Healthcare, €7.638 billion by Philips Lighting, €5.823 billion by Philips Consumer Lifestyle and €266 million from group activities. At the end of 2011 Philips had a total of 121,888 employees, of whom around 44% were employed in Philips Lighting, 31% in Philips Healthcare and 15% in Philips Consumer Lifestyle.
Philips invested a total of €1.61 billion in research and development in 2011, equivalent to 7.1% of sales. Philips Intellectual Property and Standards is the group-wide division responsible for licensing, trademark protection and patenting. Philips currently holds around 54,000 patent rights, 39,000 trademarks, 70,000 design rights and 4,400 domain name registrations.
Source: Wikipedia.
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