Audio Video News

Five 'transparent businesses' will emerge from a reorganization of Philips Electronics' consumer electronics operations, the company announced in late February. "The new organization will allow the businesses to react more quickly to their distinct market conditions and will allow for more flexibility in the structure," a company press release stated.

Audio and video will be consolidated into one organization, with a focus on the mass marketing and mass production of televisions, audio and video equipment, and monitors. Guy Demuynck will be in charge of this group, whose CD recorders and DVD products are experiencing huge growth and should continue to do very well in the coming years.

Philips Consumer Communications, the cellular telephone division, will continue to be led by Thom Swartsenburg. "PCC operates in a very fast-growing competitive market," the company stated. Digital Networks, Philips' set-top box business, will be a separate organization. Set-top converter boxes are another growing market segment, given the government-mandated changeover to digital broadcasting and the durability of recent analog television sets. Led by Rob van Oostenbrugge, the Digital Networks group will also invest in new technologies related to the Internet infrastructure and services businesses. {are these also divisions of Philips? unclear}

Michel Charriau will manage the PCB Assembly division, centralizing parts and component purchases. Philips sees a single division for this activity as taking advantage of "standardization and economies of scale." Philips is also setting up a Special Products Group, which will report to Tom Verbeek and will cater to "smaller-scale businesses that sell mainly via distributors or custom installers and not via large retail chains."

All five groups will have one management team responsible for revenue, profit-and-loss, and the execution of their goals. All will report directly to Adri Baan, CEO of Philips Consumer Electronics.