Philips Establishes a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Consumer Lighting: Economist

choi

Philips |  Lights Out; The Dutch electronics firm restructures, yet again. Economist, July 12, 2014.
www.economist.com/news/business/ ... et-again-lights-out

Note:
(a) Philips “restructurings seem to be as endless as the staircases and waterfalls in the works of Escher, another famous Dutch name.”
(i) MC Escher
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._C._Escher
(1898-1972; a Dutch graphic artist)
(ii) The German surname Escher denotes “someone from any of the various places called Esch, Esche, or Eschen [in Germany of course].”
Dictionary of American Family Names, by Oxford University Press.
(iii) esche (noun feminine; plural: eschen; from Old High German asc): "ash (tree)"
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Esche

(b) “Eight days earlier, Philips had said part of its lighting division—the industry it started out in, in 1891—would be hived off, and outside shareholders sought. * * * What will remain of the lamps division will still be big, but its sales of incandescent bulbs are falling rapidly, as consumers switch to LEDs and other low-energy alternatives.”
(i) See next posting.
(ii) Philips
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philips
(founded in 1891 in Eindhove [which remains headquarters] by Gerard Philips and his father Frederik, a banker, to start the production of carbon-filament lamps)

Compare: Thomas Edison in 1889 formed companies in New Jersey, one of which was a manufacturer of electric lighting fixtures, sockets. General Electric )incorporated in New York state) was formed in 1892 through merger of Edison's and other companies.
(iii) hive off (vi, vt): "chiefly British"
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hive+off

(c) Philips “invented the rotary shaver and the compact disc”
(i) Philishave
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philishave
(invented by Philips engineer Alexandre Horowitz [1904 - 1982; a Belgian-born Dutch], who used rotating cutters instead of the reciprocating cutters that had been used in previous electric shavers; introduced in 1939)

Search reciprocating shaver with images.google.com, and you will immediately recognize it, which is still sold worldwide.
(ii) compact disc
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_disc
(section 1 History: Philips and Sony)

(d) “Mr [Philips CEO Frans] van Houten gained a reputation for taking hard decisions in his previous job running NXP, a semiconductor business that Philips sold in 2006.”

In 1953 Philips set up Philips Semiconductors, which changed name in 2006 when sold "to a consortium of private equity investors in 2006. The new name, NXP, stood for the consumer's ‘Next eXPerience,’ according to then-CEO [of NXP, and current Philips CEO] Frans van Houten."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NXP
(headquarters in the Netherlands)

(e) “Since taking charge of its former parent [Philips] in 2011 he [van Houten] has got Philips out of making televisions”
(i) This sentence is confusing. If you go to Philips website, it is still selling television sets worldwide.
(ii) TPV Technology  冠捷科技
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TPV_Technology
(In 2011, TPV and Philips "agreed to form a Netherlands-based television manufacturing joint venture [called 'TP Vision'] comprising all of Philips' television operations, and owned 70% by TPV Technology and 30% by Philips")

(f) Funai  船井電機株式会社
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funai
(founded by Tetsurō FUNAI 船井 哲良 [currently its chairman, 84 years old] in 1961)

The “rō” is actually 郎, but his parents selected 良 instead. That is why even Japanese do not know how to read Japanese names; they can guess, though.

choi

Thomas Escritt, Philips Spins off Lighting Components Businesses. Reuters, June 30, 2014.
www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/ ... USKBN0F50F120140630

Quote:

“Now Philips - which started out 120 years ago as a pioneer in electric lighting - wants to narrow its focus in that area too, to large, complex lighting systems rather than light-emitting diodes (LEDs), under pressure from a severe price war.

“a price war for LED bulbs is hurting profits, leaving Philips and German rival Osram - spun off from its parent company Siemens last July - scrambling * * * Osram, which analysts say is weaker than Philips's new division in the field of LED lighting, has performed strongly since being spun off.

“The spun-off lighting business [from Philips] will make components such as bulbs, auto headlights and high-powered LED lamps.

“Philips's remaining lighting unit * * * provides large lighting systems and services as well as light fittings and lamps for the professional and consumer markets

My comment: There is no need to read the rest of the Reuters report.