Philips is one of the largest electronics companies in the world. In 2009, its sales were €23.18 billion. The company employs 115,924 people in more than 60 countries.[1]
Philips is organized in a number of sectors: Philips Consumer Lifestyles (formerly Philips Consumer Electronics and Philips Domestic Appliances and Personal Care), Philips Lighting and Philips Healthcare (formerly Philips Medical Systems).
he company was founded in 1891 by Gerard Philips, a maternal cousin of Karl Marx, in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Its first products were light bulbs and other electro-technical equipment. Its first factory survives as a museum devoted to light sculpture.[2] In the 1920s, the company started to manufacture other products, such as vacuum tubes (also known worldwide as 'valves'), In 1927 they acquired the British electronic valve 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).
Philips was also instrumental in the revival of the Stirling engine.
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 October 2006.
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 everyone – 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.).
In the early years of Philips & Co., the representation of the company name took many forms: one was an emblem formed by the initial letters of Philips & Co., and another was the word Philips printed on the glass of metal filament lamps.
One of the very first campaigns was launched in 1898 when Anton Philips used a range of postcards showing the Dutch national costumes as marketing tools. Each letter of the word Philips was printed in a row of light bulbs as at the top of every card. In the late 1920s, the Philips name began to take on the form that we recognize today.
The now familiar Philips waves and stars first appeared in 1926 on the packaging of miniwatt radio valves, as well as on the Philigraph, an early sound recording device. The waves symbolized radio waves, while the stars represented the ether of the evening sky through which the radio waves would travel.
In 1930 it was the first time that the four stars flanking the three waves were placed together in a circle. After that, the stars and waves started appearing on radios and gramophones, featuring this circle as part of their design. Gradually the use of the circle emblem was then extended to advertising materials and other products.
At this time Philips’ business activities were expanding rapidly and the company wanted to find a trademark that would uniquely represent Philips, but one that would also avoid legal problems with the owners of other well-known circular emblems. This wish resulted in the combination of the Philips circle and the wordmark within the shield emblem.
In 1938, the Philips shield made its first appearance. Although modified over the years, the basic design has remained constant ever since and, together with the wordmark, gives Philips the distinctive identity that is still embraced today.
Gerard Philips:
Gerard Leonard Frederik Philips (October 9, 1858, in Zaltbommel – January 27, 1942, in The Hague, Netherlands) was a Dutch industrialist, co-founder (with his father Frederik Philips) of the Philips Company as a family business in 1891. Gerard and his younger brother Anton Philips changed the business to a corporation by founding in 1912 the NV Philips' Gloeilampenfabrieken. As the first CEO of the Philips corporation, Gerard laid with Anton the base for the later Philips multinational.
Early life and education
Gerard was the first son of Benjamin Frederik David Philips (1 December 1830 – 12 June 1900) and Maria Heyligers (1836 – 1921). His father was active in the tobacco business and a banker at Zaltbommel in the Netherlands; he was a first cousin of Karl Marx.
Career
Gerard Philips became interested in electronics and engineering. Frederik was the financier for Gerard's purchase of the old factory building in Eindhoven where he established the first factory in 1891. They operated the Philips Company as a family business for more than a decade.
Marriage and family
On March 19, 1896 Philips married Johanna van der Willigen (30 September 1862 – 1942). They had no children.
Gerard was an uncle of Frits Philips, whom he and his brother brought into the business. Later they brought in his brother's grandson, Franz Otten.
Gerard and his brother Anton supported education and social programs in Eindhoven, including the Philips Sport Vereniging (Philips Sports Association), which they founded. From it the professional football (soccer) department developed into the independent Philips Sport Vereniging N.V.
Anton Philips:
Anton Frederik Philips (March 14, 1874, Zaltbommel, Gelderland – October 7, 1951, Eindhoven) co-founded Royal Philips Electronics N.V. in 1912 with his older brother Gerard Philips in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. He served as CEO of the company from 1922 to 1939.
Early life and education
Anton was born to Maria Heyligers (1836 – 1921) and Benjamin Frederik David Philips (December 1, 1830 – June 12, 1900). His father was active in the tobacco business and a banker at Zaltbommel in the Netherlands. (He was a first cousin to Karl Marx.) Anton's brother Gerard was 16 years older.
Career
In May 1891 the father Frederik was the financier and, with his son Gerard Philips, co-founder of the Philips Company as a family business. In 1912 Anton joined the firm, which they named Royal Philips Electronics N.V.
During World War I, Anton Philips managed to increase sales by taking advantage of a boycott of German goods in several countries. He provided the markets with alternative products.
Anton (and his brother Gerard) are remembered as being civic-minded. In Eindhoven they supported education and social programs and facilities, such as the soccer department of the Philips Sports Association as the best-known example.
Anton Philips brought his son Frits Philips and grandson Franz Otten into the company in their times. Anton took the young Franz Otten with him and other family members to escape the Netherlands just before the Nazi Occupation during World War II; they went to the United States. They returned after the war.
His son Frits Philips chose to stay and manage the company during the occupation; he survived several months at the concentration camp of Vught after his workers went on strike. He saved the lives of 382 Jews by claiming them as indispensable to his factory, and thus helped them evade Nazi roundups and deportation to concentration camps.
Philips died in Eindhoven in 1951.
Marriage and family
Philips married Anne Henriëtte Elisabeth Maria de Jongh (Amersfoort, May 30, 1878 – Eindhoven, March 7, 1970). They had the following children:
* Anna Elisabeth Cornelia Philips (June 19, 1899 – ?), married in 1925 to Pieter Franciscus Sylvester Otten (1895 – 1969), and had:
o Diek Otten
o Franz Otten (b. c. 1928 - d. 1967), manager in the Dutch electronics company Philips
* Frederik Jacques Philips (1905-2005)
* Henriëtte Anna Philips (Eindhoven, October 26, 1906 – ?), married firstly to A. Knappert (d. 1932), without issue; married secondly to G. Jonkheer Sandberg (d. September 5, 1935), without issue; and married thirdly in New York City, New York, on September 29, 1938 to Jonkheer Gerrit van Riemsdijk (Aerdenhout, January 10, 1911 – Eindhoven, November 8, 2005). They had the following children:
o ..., Jonkheerin Gerrit van Riemsdijk (b. Waalre, October 2, 1939), married at Waalre on February 17, 1968 to Johannes Jasper Tuijt (b. Atjeh, Koeta Radja, March 10, 1930), son of Jacobus Tuijt and wife Hedwig Jager, without issue
o ..., Jonkheerin Gerrit van Riemsdijk (b. Waalre, April 3, 1946), married firstly at Calvados, Falaise, on June 6, 1974 to Martinus Jan Petrus Vermooten (Utrecht, September 16, 1939 – Falaise, August 29, 1978), son of Martinus Vermooten and wife Anna Pieternella Hendrika Kwantes, without issue; married secondly in Paris on December 12, 1981 to Jean Yves Louis Bedos (Calvados, Rémy, January 9, 1947 – Calvados, Lisieux, October 5, 1982), son of Georges Charles Bedos and wife Henriette Louise Piel, without issue; and married thirdly at Manche, Sartilly, on September 21, 1985 to Arnaud Evain (b. Ardennes, Sedan, July 7, 1952), son of Jean Claude Evain and wife Flore Halleux, without issue
o ..., Jonkheerin Gerrit van Riemsdijk (b. Waalre, September 4, 1948), married at Waalre, October 28, 1972 to Elie Johan François van Dissel (b. Eindhoven, October 9, 1948), son of Willem Pieter
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