Philips focuses on retail sector

Nirupam Sahay (NS): Philips started its operation in India in 1930. Philips Electronics India Limited, a subsidiary of the Netherlands-based Royal Philips Electronics, is the leading Health and Wellbeing company. Today, Philips is a simpler and more focused company with global leadership positions in key markets of Healthcare, Lighting and Consumer Lifestyle, addressing people’s Health and wellbeing needs and aspirations as its overarching theme.

 

Philips Electronics India, India’s largest lighting company operates in business areas of Lamps, Luminaires, Lighting Electronics, Automotive and Special Lighting. Today, as global leader in Lighting, Philips is driving the switch to energy-efficient solutions. With worldwide electrical lighting using 19 per cent of all electricity, the use of energy-efficient lighting will significantly reduce energy consumption around the world and thereby cut harmful CO2 emissions.

 

GP: Who is your ideal target audience?

 

NS: Philips provides advanced energy-efficient solutions for all segments: street lighting, office & industrial, hospitality and home segment. 

 

GP: What are the segments that your company caters to?

 

NS: Philips Lighting, India’s largest lighting company operates in business areas of Light Sources & Electronics, Professional Lighting Solutions, Consumer Luminaires, Automotive and Lumileds. 

Philips provides advanced energy-efficient solutions for all segments: road lighting, office & industrial, hospitality and home. Philips is also a leader in shaping the future with exciting new lighting applications and technologies such as LED technology, which, besides energy efficiency, provides attractive benefits and endless new ‘never-before-possible’ lighting solutions.

 

GP: What does Philips do on the R&D front?

 

NS: In 2008, Philips inaugurated a global research and development (R&D) centre for lighting electronics in India. This was its third such unit in the world. The facility which is situated in Noida will not only cater to the needs of the Indian market but also the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America. The other R&D centres are located at Eindhoven in the Netherlands and in Shanghai, China. One of the primary research areas for the centre is to develop products that can tackle high voltage fluctuations in India. The centre currently employs 35 engineers. Around 40 per cent of Philips’ revenue in India comes from the lighting business.

 

GP: Elaborate on your store/distribution presence- number of cities and number of total stores?

 

NS: Philips has the largest lighting distribution network in India that reaches out to close to a million electrical & non-electrical outlets across 1000 urban cities and towns. With a view to get closer to its end customers, Philips set up its first exclusive retail outlet, Philips Light Lounge, in New Delhi in 2009. The company today has close to 80 Philips Light Lounges in the country. 

 

GP: What are the future expansion plans?

 

NS: Philips Lighting will focus more on the professional segment to drive conversion to LED lighting solutions with the target segments being offices, retail and hospitality. The sector will also continue to drive energy efficient home solutions through CFLi and consumer LED retrofit solutions. Philips Lighting is also looking to expand its retail presence across the country by adding more Light Lounges to the existing network.