The history of the company that gave us light

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Philips celebrates its 125th anniversary this year. On this occasion, we tell a boring story of the company: from the carbon light bulb to smart lighting. Why Philips was almost closed, how the Dutch conquered Peter and what awaits us in the future - in our article.

How it all began

The year is 1891. After the industrial introduction of electricity, people needed a lot of light bulbs. Then the enterprising inventor Gerard Philips decided to found a company named after himself for the production of lamps with carbon filament. A small building was adapted for the workshop, the necessary equipment was brought in and production started. At first, there were not enough stars from the sky: a dozen people worked at the factory, producing about 200 lamps a day. There was no talk of a large profit, but Gerard believed in his business.

It could have been different

However, three years later, his fuse died out. The enterprise turned out to be unprofitable, and Gerard decided to get rid of it. There was only one buyer who offered such a paltry price that the offended Gerard Phillips refused to sell. He decided to show everyone what he was capable of, expanded production and ventured to bring Philips to the world market.

And he succeeded. Over the next ten years, Phillips production grew 20 times and got close to an impressive four million. He owes much of this success to his younger brother Anton Phillips.

Dutch Adventure in Russia

Gerard's younger brother Anton Phillips was instructed to conquer the world. The guy was barely 21 years old, but he successfully coped with world expansion. In 1898, Anton arrived in St. Petersburg, where, by some miracle, he received a contract for 50 thousand coal lamps for the Winter Palace. How did this happen? Why an unknown young man from the Dutch hinterland was chosen, and not German suppliers with factories and steamers, is unclear. But this was Philips' first worldwide victory.

Thanks to this contract, it was possible to get not only huge profits, but also excellent prospects. In 1914, the company opens its representative office on Nevsky Prospekt, right next to the Admiralty. More than two million lamps were sold in Russia a year.

1906 year. It's time for tungsten lamps

Carbon lamps had a low luminous flux, so Philips decided to replace them with tungsten ones. The tungsten filament has a higher melting point, which means it can be heated to higher temperatures (your Cap). This feature has made it possible to significantly increase the light output.

1912 year. Philips Corporation Gloeilampenfabrieken

Gerard and Anton unite their factories into one corporation with the unpronounceable name Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken, which means “Philips incandescent lamp company”. Short and original. The company was actively expanding and by April 1922 it had more than 5,500 employees.

1914 year. You give a wide choice

Tungsten lamps were in demand, but that was not enough. So Philips thought, and created a research laboratory, within the walls of which they had to figure out how to expand the line. This is how light bulbs of different sizes appeared for lighting houses, streets and cars.

1919 year. The largest lamp in the world

Philips creates a king-lamp with a power of 25,000 watts and a diameter of about a meter. The giant was installed on the lighthouse and given the appropriate name - "Goliath".

1923 year. Dawn of neon advertising

Philips took on outdoor advertising. The company introduced neon tubes - flexible colored lights that can be used to make letters and words to form words.

1980 year. Fluorescent lamp introduced

Introduced a fluorescent lamp - the most energy efficient solution for the home at the time. And in 10 years the production of recyclable fluorescent lamps with a reduced mercury content will start.

1999 year. The era of LEDs is coming

The world saw the first LED lamp. No filaments or gas, light is obtained by passing a stream of charged particles through a semiconductor device. Plus, LED bulbs are not as voracious. Philips is the leader in LED technology today.

2007 year. Dress for the mood

Why not put LEDs in your clothes? - somehow thought at Philips. This is how the Bubelle dress came about, changing color and pattern depending on the mood. All thanks to a bunch of biometric sensors and LEDs attached to the dress.

year 2009. OLED lamps developed

The next step was the development of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) lamps. They give a uniform glow, have a very fine structure and can take on the most unusual shapes. All this gives almost limitless possibilities for their use.

2011. Smart light from Philips

It's time for smart light. Philips has created connected lighting systems. They can be programmed for different lighting scenarios or color controlled. In addition, the innovative City Touch system was presented, with which you can control the lighting in the whole city from a single remote control.

2011. Interactive walls

In the same year, Philips showed off Luminous Textile - a smart wallpaper, one might say. It is a system of light panels riddled with programmable LEDs. The panels are made of fabric and do not allow extraneous sounds to pass through. But the most important thing is that you can broadcast content on them. I would not refuse such a system at home.

year 2012. Philips Hue smart bulbs

Philips continues to develop the idea of smart light with the introduction of the popular Philips Hue bulbs. They are capable of reproducing the full spectrum of colors as well as all shades of white. Bulbs can be networked, set up different color schemes. All of this can be controlled using a device on Android, iOS or even Apple Watch.

year 2013. Light will improve the air

Philips participated in an interesting experiment. The Koningstunnel tunnel in The Hague has been painted with a special air-purifying paint. This effect is due to the light from the fluorescent lamps provided by Philips. As a result, all vehicle emissions are neutralized and the air becomes cleaner.

year 2014. LED mat won't let you get lost

The company has developed the smart Luminous Carpet. It has built-in LEDs that can be programmed for various purposes. For example, with their help to transmit information or use for navigation in buildings, why not.

2016 year. Into infinity and beyond

Philips is now working with the University of Arizona to develop energy-efficient ways to grow plants on Mars and the Moon. Research has already paid off, with water-cooled sodium gas discharge lamps having a great effect on lettuce. And they consume little energy.

This is such a rich history of the company, which has been giving light to the world for more than a century. Her inventions make our life more comfortable and brighter. The time has come, and the integration of light with this system will allow us to interact with the surrounding world in a completely different way.