PHILIPS SURGES BACK IN WORLD MARKET

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01446R000100120018-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 24, 1998
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: December 17, 1949
• Content Type: NSPR

ISSUE OF: Dec. 17, 1949
EINDHOVEN PLANT, recovered from war damage, bettered prewar production in 1948.
Philips Surges Back in World Market
Dutch company exported 38% more last year than prewar.
Now, spurred by devaluation, it plans for increased U. S. trade.
Thanks to devaluation, a Dutch-made
electric shaver 'has begun to make a
name for itself in the U. S. market.
The shaver, the Norelco, is a product
of Philips, the big Netherlands electric-
appliance company whose headquarters
arc at Eindhoven.
When the Dutch government de-
valued the guilder by 30%, the Norelco
overnight became a competitive item.
Its price tag dropped from $22.50 to
$16.50, putting it several dollars under
comparable domestic shavers. At that
point Philips began to put real money
into U. S. advertising.
? Known Repute-The Philips name,
of course, was known in the U. S. long
s shaver appeared on
before the Phili
p
001 the scene. The Dutch coin,Lan las It was the combined genius of two
(long had an Amer' susicliabrothers that produced this success and
t t] tli tl-it followed Gerard Phil-
s o rs
I
th
li
Ph
e pas
n
ps.
i
or American
481 year or so, half a dozen U. S. television
roduee rs have been buying a projection
Cr
t~ Philips has found it more economical to,
f
suit the Netherlands government to a
"t." The Hague is working out plans
now to boost Dutch exports to the U. S.
from about $50-million a year to $100-
million. And Dutch trade officials
know that can't be clone merely by ex-
panding the sale of tulip bulbs.
In fact, if The Hague wants to sell
more industrial products in the U. S.,
the most natural place for it to get
help is Philips Incandescent Lamp
`Yorks. The company is now Hol-
land's biggest industrial enterprise.
? History-As its name implies, Philips
started 'out as a maker of light bulbs.
That was in 1891. By 1903, Philips was
the third largest producer of incandes-
cent. lamps in Europe.
i
~
ips, who was in at the start, supplied
the technical leadership. Ile kept the
company in the forefront as the metal-
filament lamp came along in 1907, and
the coiled-filament, gas-filled lamp in
1914. In 1914, Gerard established a
research department that was the be-
ginning of the well-known Philips lab-
oratories.
Anton Philips joined his brother in
1895 and brought to the infant com-
pany financial and sales acumen. When
brother Gerard retired in 1922, Anton
rom its
supply the American market
main plant at Eindhoven.
Philips, in fact, is taking a careful
look these days to see what other prod-
ucts it can profitably export to the U. S.
Up for consideration are television
scopes. took over the uroduction side of the
? Pleasing Pr~p{'~lr~~/c sFi~lfiyR caSil i2DQQ1QW1 2s: fl1eRD Q Q1
ips to expand its dollar exports would It was he who launched Philips into
tubes, X-ray tubes, radios, hearing aids,
film projectors, and electron micro-
the radio and X-ray field in the 1920's.
'T'oday Anton Philips is board chairman
at the age of 75, after 55 years of con-
tinuous service.
? Far-Flung Empire-The industrial em-
pire that Anton Philips directs is not
vast by American standards, but it
would be sizable by any measuring stick,
Total assets were $260-million at the
cud of 1948. Subsidiaries abroad ac-
counted for about onc-quarter of this
total. Ownership is 85% Dutch, 8%
'TOP PLANNER is 55-year man Anton Philips.
 Approved For Release 2000/09/12 : CIA-RDP80-01446R000100120018-5
American, 4% French, and 2% British.
Philips has 20 plants in Holland and
subsidiaries in 29 foreign countries.
It employs 80_: i__QO(1_ workers throughout
work in the Netherlands, 23,000 at
Eindhoven, and 11,500 in 19 other
Dutch plants. There are roughly 1,000
employees in the U. S.
? Branching Out-It was during the
thirties that I'iiilips branched out into
fields other than lighting and electrical
appliances. The company moved into
electronics, telecommunications, electro-
acoustics. It also began to supply
equipment for industrial processes such
as welding, and it added products in
glass, ceramics, plastics, paper, and
pharmaceuticals. Since World War
II, the big push in both research and
production has been in nonlighting
fields.
In the past four years new subsidiaries
have been formed to produce glass,
paper, machinery, wire, carbon-resistors,
diamond drills, and vitamin D.
? Better Than Prewar-Despite exten-
sive war damage to its Eindhoven
plants, the company had its production
back to prewar by early 1947. In 1948
production was 55% more than 1938;
this year there will be a further gain.
Philips exports are up, too. In 1948
they were 38% more than prewar.
Though the company publishes no fig-
ures, a safe estimate would put last
year's exports at more than $70-million.
In 1949 foreign sales will be even
higher. Flor 1950 the key question in
Eindhoven is not how big over-all ex-
ports will be, but how much dollar ex-
ports can be pushed up.
Copyright 1949 by McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, Inc.
Approved For Release 2000/09/12 : CIA-RDP80-01446R000100120018-5