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The Death of Europe's Last Electronics Giant

TechAltar · 4.5M views · 2023-03-02 · 18:39

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Overview

TechAltar's history of Philips, once Europe's largest tech company and a world leader in lighting, radio and physical media. It traces how the company sold off or spun out its businesses, until little remains but the licensed name.

On Hacker News

HN points to it when asked why many Philips-branded products aren't made by Philips, and for the company's decline.

Recommended by 1 HN people across 1 months · HN mentions 2023–2025

Topics

Tech company stories & documentariesTech industry & business models
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philipscorporate historyelectronics industrybrand licensingeurope

What people said

ss48 · 2023-07 · Recommendation

[VIDEO] Techalter did a good job describing the fate of a lot of Philips different businesses and product lines.

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ycombinete · 2025-10 · Reference

Beware of Philips in general: [VIDEO] They've mostly sold off bits of themselves, and/or licensed their name to other producers. It's highly unlikely that Philips actually made that camera.

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this_steve_j · 2024-02 · Reference

TechAltar on youtube posted a video last year about the decline of Philips. They apparently just excel at toothbrushes, smart bulbs, and shavers nowadays, and cash in on the name through licensing. [1] It is an unfortunate tragedy that so many people died because a corporation did the wrong things. The US FDA has many flaws to be sure, and they are not known for making fast decisions. It sounds like more lives could have been saved. A member of my family fortunately stopped using their device when it was recalled and has struggled to find a replacement. [1] [VIDEO]

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Sources

Video by TechAltar, played through YouTube.

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