Philips
From ArticleWorld
Royal Philips Electronics, also known as Philips, is one of the largest manufacturers of electronic components in the world. Its headquarters are in Amsterdam, Netherlands. As of 2004, its sales were almost 40 billion USD and its companies were spread out in 60 companies with over 150,000 employees.
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History
Dutch engineer Gerard Philips founded the company in 1891 in Eindhoven, Netherlands for making incandescent (carbon-filament) lamps and named it "Philips and Company". Gerard’s brother Anton and other members of his family joined the company soon after and helped it develop and expand. A research division was established in 1914.
Philips began diversifying its operations in the 1920s and started manufacturing more electronic equipment such as radios. During the Second World War II when the Germans invaded Netherlands, the Philips management fled to the United States and managed to continue its operations. It was also able to recover quickly from its losses in Netherlands after the war ended and continued with its innovations.
Major innovations of Philips include the compact audio cassette (1963), the compact disc (1983), and the digital versatile disc (DVD) (jointly with Sony in 1997).
Products
Philips manufactures products in many areas, the major ones being consumer products, lighting, medical systems and semiconductors.
Consumer products
The consumer products marketed by Philips include:
- Lighting and batteries
- TVs
- Computer peripherals
- CD players and other portable entertainment devices
- Kitchen appliances
Lighting
This includes LEDs and equipment for home, professional and vehicular lighting.
Medical systems
Medical systems manufactured by Philips include imaging systems (such as radiographs, fluoroscopes and ultrasound machines) and patient monitoring systems (such as electrocardiographs, thermometers, defibrillators and foetal monitors).