Philips: Europe's "global brand" faces a new future Ask anyone to name a famous Dutch company, and the first - and sometimes the only - answer is Philips. This lighting, electronics and healthcare behemoth is one of Europe's few truly global consumer brands, with its televisions, speakers, toothbrushes, headphones, light bulbs and kitchen gadgets are found in millions of homes across the world. As with the Chinese buy-out of the TV arm by TP Vision in 2011, however, the Philips brand will continue. And indeed, that 122 year-old brand is arguably the company's major asset. With more than 120,000 employees based in 60 countries, the conglomerate is the world's biggest producer of light bulbs - but it is still recovering from a global restructuring exercise that has only just seen it return to sustainable, serious profit. Despite modest declines in Europe and the US, the brand is surging in Russia China and Latin America. If you look at our new owner, the reason why they have acquired the lifestyle entertainment business is because it's really an addition to their own portfolio. And we are an addition from a product portfolio point of view - they are largely in TVs. It's really an add-on acquisition. If it sounds as though Vaartjes protests too much, it's worth remembering that Funai is largely keeping the team in place. We are continuing as part of the Philips brand and we will have a strong ongoing cooperation with the TVs business and with the rest of the group. And of course with the Japanese addition we will see what can we do more of. There's an opportunity to accelerate certain areas, but the good thing is that the strategy and the position we've been creating in the last years will continue - that's exactly why a Japanese company wanted to buy us. Speaking at the IFA technology fair in Berlin the company's executives continue to emphasise the TVs that are still marketed as Philips, and continued too with the company's tradition of launching slightly eccentric products. This year, that included a beard-trimmer with a built in laser for precision cutting; last year Jamie Oliver was flown over by private jet to launch a slow cooker with built-in stirrer that claimed to eliminate the need for almost any other cooking appliance. Vaartjes says much of the future will see apps built in to a growing number of products, from DJ equipment that works with iPads to increasing the Hue range. "App enabled products have a lot of opportunities, using the specific competencies that we have - whether that's DECT (home) phones or smart light bulbs," he says. That doesn't mean, however, that the less conspicuous businesses will be less important - orders for MRI scanners are a major part of the businesses, and a new generation of light bulbs, with much improved efficiencies, will power large profits. And while Japan will own much of the business and manufacturing will continue around the world, Philips will continue to fly a very European flag. The Philips brand in Brazil is not a 'European' manufacturer.