Koninklijke Philips N.V.

History

Year	Detail
1890s	In 1891, Philips & Co. was founded by Frederik Philips and his son, Gerard in the Netherlands.
1900s	The company became one of the largest private employer in the Netherlands.
1910s	In 1914, the company opened its first research laboratory "Philips Nat Lab".
1930s	The company introduced Philishave, a rotary electric razor.
1940s	Post the Second World War, Philips Research developed innovations like using UV light to kill bacteria, new magnetic materials and ceramics, tubular fluorescent lamps, gramophone and hearing aids and miniaturizing and modernizing its radio and shaver technologies to aid post-war recovery.
1960s	In response to popular culture and consumer spending power, the company introduced its first Compact Cassette audio player.
1970s	In 1971, the company has launched the first video cassette recorder (VCR).
1980s	The company introduced the LaserVision Optical Disc, optical telecommunication systems, and Compact Disc (CD), which were combined and developed by Sony.
1990s	The company adopted a human-centered approach to design products entitled ‘Design for Life’.
2010s	The company aims to improve the lives of 2.5 billion people per year by the end of 2030.