Philips

Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Royal Dutch Philips Electronics Ltd.), usually known as Philips, is one of the largest consumer electronics producers in the world. In 2004, their sales were € 30.3 billion and they employed 161,586 people in more than 60 countries. Philips is organized in a number of divisions: Philips Consumer Electronics, Philips Semiconductors, Philips Lighting, Philips Medical Systems and Philips Domestic Appliances and Personal Care.

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Consumer - Electronics - 2004 - € - Billion

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The company was founded in 1891 by the brothers Gerard and Anton Philips (1874-1951) in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Their first products were light bulbs 'and other electrotechnical equipment'. Their first factory remains as a museum. In the 1920s, the company started to manufacture other products, and in 1939 their first electric razor, the Philishave, was introduced. Philips markets their shavers in the USA using the Norelco name. Philips introduced the compact audio cassette tape, which was wildly successful, though their attempt to set a standard for video cassette recorders, the V2000, was unsuccessful in the face of competition from the Betamax and especially VHS standards.

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1891 - Gerard - Anton Philips - Eindhoven - Netherlands - Light bulb - Factory - 1920s - 1939 - Razor - Philishave - Norelco - Compact audio cassette - Video cassette recorder - V2000 - Betamax - VHS

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On the 9th of May 1940, the Philips directors were informed about the German invasion of the Netherlands on May 10th. They decided to leave the country and flee to the United States. They took a large amount of the company capital with them. Operating from the US, they managed to run the company throughout the war. At the same time, the company itself was moved to the Netherlands Antilles (on paper) to keep it out of German hands. After the war it was moved back to the Netherlands, with their headquarters in Eindhoven (and in 1997 the decision was made to move to Amsterdam - the move was completed in 2001). Many secret research facilities were locked and successfully hidden from the invaders, which allowed the company to get up to speed again quickly after the war.

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9th of May - 1940 - German - Invasion - Netherlands - May 10 - United States - Netherlands Antilles

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It is also believed that Philips - both before and during the war - supplied enormous amounts of electric equipment to the German occupation forces, which has led some people to think that the company collaborated with the Nazis, like many other firms in their day. However, there is no evidence to suggest that Philips itself or its management ever sympathized with the Nazis or their ideologies. Clearly, there is little Philips could have done to prevent the Germans from abusing their production facilities and forcing their employees to perform slave labor during the occupation. The production facility in Eindhoven was the only Dutch target that was deliberately bombed by the allied forces during the war.

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Collaborated - Nazi

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