Gerard Leonard Frederik Philips was an entrepreneur whose company produced on a large scale some of the consumer goods that characterised the material culture of the 20th century. He transformed the economy of a part of the Netherlands that had previously been economically backward. He was born at Zaltbommel on the River Waal, the son of a banker, and in his twenties began to investigate the incandescent lamp that had been demonstrated by Thomas Alva Edison in With capital provided by his father he established in a company based in an old factory building in Eindhoven whose objective was to manufacture incandescent light bulbs and other electrical products.
Philips introduced the audio Compact Audio Cassette tape in , and it was wildly successful. Compact cassettes were initially used for dictation machines for office typing stenographers and professional journalists. As their sound quality improved, cassettes would also be used to record sound and became the second mass media alongside vinyl records used to sell recorded music.
Philips introduced the first combination portable radio and cassette recorder, which was marketed as the "radiorecorder," and is now better known as the boom box. Later, the cassette was used in telephone answering machines, including a special form of cassette where the tape was wound on an endless loop. The C-cassette was used as the first mass storage device for early personal computers in the s and s. Philips reduced the cassette size for the professional needs with the Mini-Cassette, although it would not be as successful as the Olympus Microcassette.
This became the predominant dictation medium up to the advent of fully digital dictation machines. In Philips launched the world's first home video cassette recorder, in England, the N Its relatively bulky video cassettes could record 30 minutes or 45 minutes.
Later one-hour tapes were also offered. As competition came from Sony 's Betamax and the VHS group of manufacturers, Philips introduced the N system which allowed double-length recording.
For the first time, a 2-hour movie could fit onto one video cassette. In , the company unveiled a special promotional film for this system in the UK, featuring comedian Denis Norden. Philips made one last attempt at a new standard for video recorders with the Video system, with tapes that could be used on both sides and had 8 hours of total recording time. Philips had developed a laser disk 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 laser disk standard and players. In , the company's name was changed from N. Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken to Philips Electronics N. At the same time, North American Philips was formally dissolved, and a new corporate division was formed in the U. In the company officers decided to move the headquarters from Eindhoven to Amsterdam along with the corporate name change to Koninklijke Philips Electronics N. The move was completed in Initially, the company was housed in the Rembrandt Tower, but in they moved again, this time to the Breitner Tower.
In , Philips bought Optiva Corporation, the maker of Sonicare electric toothbrushes. In , Philips abandoned the slogan "Let's make things better" in favour of a new one: "Sense and simplicity".
In December Philips announced its intention to sell or demerge its semiconductor division. On 1 September , it was announced in Berlin that the name of the new company formed by the division would be NXP Semiconductors.
On 2 August , Philips completed an agreement to sell a controlling On 21 August , Bain Capital and Apax Partners announced that they had signed definitive commitments to join the acquiring consortium, a process which was completed on 1 October In August Philips acquired the company Ximis, Inc. On 21 December Philips and Respironics, Inc. The Philips physics laboratory was scaled down in the early 21st century, as the company ceased trying to be innovative in consumer electronics through fundamental research.
In January Philips agreed to acquire the assets of Preethi, a leading India-based kitchen appliances company. In March Philips announced its intention to sell, or demerge its television manufacturing operations to TPV Technology.
On 5 December 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. Formed in November as an equal joint venture between Philips and Agilent Technologies, the light-emitting diode manufacturer Lumileds became a subsidiary of Phillips Lighting in August and a fully owned subsidiary in December Philips is registered in the Netherlands as a naamloze vennootschap and has its world headquarters in Amsterdam.
The company currently employs around people. Regional sales and support offices are located in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Philips do Brasil was founded in Rio de Janeiro. In the s, Philips was making its light bulbs and radio receivers in Brazil. After the war, Philips had a great industrial expansion in Brazil,and was among first groups to establish in Manaus Free Zone. In the s, Philips Records was a major player in Brazil recording industry.
Nowadays, Philips do Brasil is one of the largest foreign-owned companies in Brazil. Philips Canada was founded in It is well known in medical systems for diagnosis and therapy, lighting technologies, shavers, and consumer electronics. For several years, Philips manufactured lighting products in two Canadian factories. The London, Ontario, plant opened in Philips closed the factory in May, Philips closed this factory a few years later, in the late s.
In early Philips Lighting, a division of Royal Philips Electronics, opened a small engineering center to adapt the company's products to vehicles in Asia. Philips France has its headquarters in Suresnes.
The company employs over people nationwide. Philips' Greece is headquartered in Marousi, Athens. As of Philips has no manufacturing plants in Greece, although there have been in the past. Philips Hong Kong began operation in Philips also has a Light Factory in Hong Kong, with 11 automatic production lines installed which is capable of producing million pieces a year.
Philips began operations in India in with the establishment of Philips Electrical Co. In , Philips established its first Indian lamp-manufacturing factory in Kolkata.
In , Philips started manufacturing radios in Kolkata. In , a second radio factory was established near Pune. In , the company converted into a public limited company, renamed "Philips India Ltd". Since its introduction in , Philips has sold an average of Philishaves an hour. After the second World War, Philips Research developed innovations to aid post-war recovery. These included using UV light to kill bacteria, tubular fluorescent lights, new magnetic materials and ceramics, a hearing aid, a gramophone as well as miniaturizing and modernizing its radio and shaver technologies.
The most significant introduction, though, was mass-market television. The World Fair was an expression of post-war ideals of peace and innovation. Philips was alone among multinationals in being awarded a pavilion of its own at the Expo. In response to popular culture and consumer spending power, Philips focused on making its technologies accessible. The first Compact Cassette audio player - ideal for the mass market - was an instant success. It set the global standard for tape recording and was followed by the first stereo Compact Cassette player, as well as car and portable radio cassette players.
As the video age dawned, Philips launched the first video cassette recorder VCR in While the VCR and ongoing innovations kept Philips at the forefront of consumer products, the company was also undergoing further change as the world globalized. Informed by its pioneering work in images, sound and data, Philips remained at the forefront of emerging consumer digital technologies in the s. Introductions included the LaserVision Optical Disc, optical telecommunication systems and, one of its biggest successes, Compact Disc CD — developed together with Sony.
As technology became more complex and ever-present, the s saw the rise of products designed to be easier to use and more comfortable to experience.
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