Philips Research

About Philips Research

Founded in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, in 1914, Philips Research as part of Koninklijke Philips N.V. has expanded the scale and scope of its activities to maintain its position as one of the world's major private research organizations.
 

With laboratories in six countries (Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, India, USA, China) and staffed by around 1,800 people, Philips Research creates innovations in the areas of Healthcare, Lifestyle and Technology. Our common vision is to create technologies that will lead to products that improve people's lives. Our activities have led to more than 130,000 patent (total R&D) and design rights, and the publishing of many thousands of technical and scientific papers.

The annual research budget of Philips Research is slightly less than 1% of Philips' annual sales, which amounted EUR 27 billion in 2007. Roughly two-thirds of the corporate research work is geared to the activities of the Sectors of Philips, with contractual agreements about programs and costs. The remainder is research of a more exploratory nature. (Total R&D efforts of Philips amount to approximately 6.2 % of sales.)

Scientists from a wide range of disciplines, from electrical engineering and physics to chemistry, mathematics, mechanics, information technology and software, work in close proximity, influencing and broadening each other's views. This implies that Philips Research reaps the benefits of synergy and cross-fertilization of ideas.

In close cooperation with the Philips Sectors, the Philips Research organization generates options for new and improved products and processes and produces important patents in many fields. These patents are important, because they protect technological achievements and enable Philips to gain access to the knowledge of others. Philips Research also provides a window on the outside scientific and technological world.