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CASE SUMMARY Established in 1891, the Dutch company Philips NV is one of the world’s largest electronics enterprises. Its business are grouped into four main divisions: lighting, consumer electronics, professional products (computer, telecommunications, and medical equipment), and components (including chips). In each of these areas it ranks alongside the likes of Matsushita, General Electric, Sony, and Siemens as a global competitor. In the late 1980s, the company had several hundred subsidiaries in 60 countries, it operated manufacturing plants in more than 40 countries, it employed approximately 300,000 people, and it manufactured thousands of different products. However, despite its global reach by 1990, Philips was a company in deep trouble. After a decade of deteriorating performance, in 1990 Philips lost $2.2 billion on revenues of $28 billion. A major reason seems to have been the inability of Philips to adapt to the changing competitive conditions in the global electronics industry during the 1970s and 1980s. INFORMATION AVAILABLE Company Profile Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of EUR 29 billion in 2003. With activities in the three interlocking domains of healthcare, lifestyle and technology and 166,800 employees in more than 60 countries, we have market leadership positions in medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, color television sets, electric shavers, lighting and silicon system solutions Philips is tenth on Fortune's list of global top electronics corporations. We are active in about 60 businesses, varying from consumer electronics to domestic appliances and from security systems to semiconductors. The foundations for what was to become one of the world's biggest electronics companies were laid in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in 1891, the company initially concentrated on making carbon-filament lamps and by the turn of the century was one of the largest producers in Europe. Marketing companies had already been established in the US and France before the First World War and in Belgium in 1919, and the 1920s saw an explosion in their number. It was at this time that Philips began to protect its innovations with patents, for areas taking in X-ray radiation and radio reception. This marked the beginning of the diversification of its product range. In 1939, Philips employed 45,000 people worldwide and had sales of 152 million guilders. Science and technology underwent tremendous development in the 1940s and 1950s, with Philips Research inventing the rotary heads which led to the development of the Philishave electric shaver, and laying down the basis for later ground-breaking work on transistors and integrated circuits.
Approximate Word count = 1671
Approximate Pages = 6.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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