Philips

Philips & Co. was founded in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, by Gerard Philips and his father, Frederik Philips, on May 15, 1891. Gerard Philips began producing incandescent light bulbs in a vacant factory in Eindhoven and, together with his father, developed a business plan that set the company apart from other manufacturers; within ten years of its founding it had become a formidable competitor.⁠[1][2]

In early January 1895, 20-year-old Anton PhilipsAnton PhilipsAnton Philips (1874–1951) was a Dutch entrepreneur who joined Philips & Co, founded by his elder brother Gerard Philips and their father, in 1895 to run its sales, led the company alone from 1922 and built it into an international electronics business.Open the full entry came to Eindhoven at the request of his father, Frederik, to help his brother Gerard, who was 16 years his senior, on what was meant to be a six-month stay. As a commercial traveler carrying sample light bulbs, he developed sales in the Netherlands, Belgium and the German Ruhr area.⁠[3]

During the 1900s Philips grew to more than 2,000 employees, becoming the largest private employer in the Netherlands; it was also one of the first companies to pay employees 70% of their salary when they were off sick.⁠[1]

On August 31, 1913, the Philips Sport VerenigingPSV EindhovenPSV Eindhoven is a professional football club founded in 1913 by Philips employees in Eindhoven, the Netherlands; it plays at the Philips Stadion, won the 1978 UEFA Cup and the 1988 European Cup, and as of 2026 had been Dutch league champion 27 times.Open the full entry (PSV) was officially founded as a sports association of and for employees of N.V. Philips’ Gloeilampenfabrieken; it is the origin of the football club PSV Eindhoven.⁠[4]

In 1914 the Philips research laboratory, known as Philips NatLab, opened. Its breakthroughs in X-ray tubes ultimately marked the origin of Philips’ involvement in health technology.⁠[1]

In the 1920s the Philips radio became the first product to reflect the company’s design vision.⁠[1]

In 1921 Anton Philips and his wife, Anna, set up a recreation fund to promote the mental and physical relaxation of staff members and their families. After Gerard Philips retired in 1922, Anton Philips continued alone as director.⁠[3][2]

In the 1930s Philips introduced its rotary electric shaver, the Philishave, which went on sale in 1939. On July 6, 1939, Anton Philips handed the presidency to his son-in-law Frans Otten and became chairman of the Supervisory Board, a role he held until a few months before his death in 1951.⁠[1][3]

After World War II, Philips Research developed innovations to aid post-war recovery. At the 1958 Expo, Philips was the only multinational awarded a pavilion of its own.⁠[1]

In 1963 Lou Ottens, then in charge of product development at the Philips plant in Hasselt, Belgium, and his team introduced the cassette tape, which Philips unveiled at a product exhibition in Berlin. The first compact cassette audio player for the mass market was an instant success and was followed by the first stereo compact cassette player.⁠[5][1]

In 1971 Philips launched its first video cassette recorder (VCR).⁠[1]

In 1982 Philips and Sony jointly unveiled the Compact Disc (CD), one of Philips’ biggest successes.⁠[5][1]

In 1987 Philips set up Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) as a joint venture with the Taiwan government. In its early years Philips held a 27.5% share in TSMC and Taiwan’s Executive Yuan Development Fund held 48.3%; Philips said it planned to transfer its submicron CMOS technology to TSMC once it gained majority control.⁠[6][7]

In 1997 Cor Boonstra, chairman of Philips’ Board of Management from 1996 to 2001, decided that the company’s headquarters would move from Eindhoven to Amsterdam; the move took place under his leadership.⁠[8][9]

In 2006 Philips sold an 80.1% stake in its semiconductor business to a consortium led by KKR together with Bain Capital, Silver Lake Partners, Apax and AlpInvest Partners, retaining 19.9%; the business then operated independently under the name NXP, which stands for Next Experience.⁠[10]

On March 9, 2007, Philips and TSMC announced a multi-phased plan for Philips’ orderly exit from its TSMC shareholding. Philips then sold 887 million TSMC shares to Taiwanese investors, cutting its stake from 16.2% to 12.8% and booking a profit of €725 million.⁠[11][6]

On March 17, 2008, Philips announced that it had completed its acquisition of Respironics through a merger; Respironics became an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Philips, and its results were accounted for in Philips Healthcare from March 10, 2008.⁠[12]

On August 14, 2008, Philips sold approximately 383 million TSMC shares in a block trade to long-term financial investors agreed by both companies, receiving proceeds of about €455 million; it no longer held a stake in TSMC, completing the multi-phased exit plan.⁠[11][13]

On May 3, 2013, Philips’ Annual General Meeting approved changing the company’s name from Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. to Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Royal Philips).⁠[14]

On May 27, 2016, Philips Lighting began trading on Euronext Amsterdam. The offer price was €20.00 per share for 37.5 million shares, or 25% of the shares, implying a market capitalisation of €3.0 billion, with a total offering value of €750 million; assuming full exercise of the over-allotment option, Philips would hold 71.25%. The company later became Signify.⁠[15][16][17]

On September 19, 2019, Philips sold its remaining 13.8 million shares in Signify N.V. to institutional investors at €25.90 per share, for total proceeds of approximately €357 million.⁠[18]

In June 2021 Philips Respironics recalled certain ventilators, BiPAP machines and CPAP machines, about 15 million devices worldwide. The recall was prompted by the risk that the polyester-based polyurethane (PE-PUR) foam used to reduce sound and vibration could break down, with particles or chemicals potentially inhaled or swallowed by users.⁠[19]

On September 2, 2021, Philips completed the sale of its Domestic Appliances business to Hillhouse Investment at an enterprise value of approximately €3.7 billion; including a 15-year brand license agreement with annual payments, the total deal value was about €4.4 billion. Philips by then described itself as a health technology company.⁠[20]

Philips shareholders appointed Roy Jakobs as President and Chief Executive Officer effective October 15, 2022, succeeding Frans van Houten, who had led the company for about 12 years.⁠[21]

On January 30, 2023, Philips announced 2022 group sales of €17.8 billion, a 3% comparable sales decline, and an operating loss of €1,529 million. The same day it announced 6,000 further job cuts worldwide through 2025, including 1,100 in the Netherlands and 3,000 in 2023, on top of the 4,000 cuts announced earlier.⁠[22][23]

On August 14, 2023, Philips announced that Exor had acquired a 15% shareholding through on-market purchases and an agreement with a major financial institution; Exor may nominate one member of the Supervisory Board and may increase its stake to a maximum of 20%.⁠[24]

The US Department of Justice, representing the FDA, began discussions with Philips in July 2022, and on April 9, 2024, a federal district court entered a consent decree against Philips Respironics. The decree sets out a roadmap of defined actions; until its relevant requirements are met, Philips Respironics does not sell new CPAP and BiPAP sleep and respiratory devices in the US. The company said more than 99% of actionable registered sleep therapy devices had been remediated globally.⁠[19][25]

On April 29, 2024, Philips announced that it would resolve the US Respironics personal injury and medical monitoring litigation for USD 1.1 billion, with payments expected in 2025; Philips and Philips Respironics do not admit any fault or liability. The previously announced US economic loss settlement also received final court approval.⁠[26]

On February 10, 2026, Philips announced 2025 group sales of €17.8 billion, with comparable sales growth of 2%, comparable order intake growth of 6%, an adjusted EBITA margin up 80 basis points to 12.3%, and free cash flow of €512 million; its 2026 outlook called for comparable sales growth of 3% to 4.5% and an adjusted EBITA margin of 12.5% to 13.0%.⁠[27]

On July 27, 2026, Philips announced second-quarter group sales of €4.4 billion, comparable sales growth of 4% and a 1% decline in comparable order intake due to the timing of certain large orders; the adjusted EBITA margin was 16.4%, including an effective 4.2% benefit from a US tariff refund. It reiterated full-year comparable sales growth of 3% to 4.5% and raised its full-year adjusted EBITA margin outlook to 13.5% to 14.0%.⁠[28][29]

As of October 2026, Philips was headquartered in Amsterdam and organized into three reporting segments, Diagnosis & Treatment, Connected Care and Personal Health; it had some 69,700 employees in more than 100 countries and invested about 9% of sales in R&D in 2025.⁠[29][30]

Philips: Official website: https://www.philips.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[31]

X: Official account: https://x.com/PhilipsHealth (opens in a new window)⁠[31]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Official account: https://www.linkedin.com/company/philips/ (opens in a new window)⁠[31]