Philips eyes Rs 5000 cr revenues by 2008

BANGALORE: Royal Philips Electronics, which clocked revenues of Rs 3000 crore in India this year is gunning to reach the Rs 5000 crore mark in 2008, said the Gerard Kleisterlee, president and CEO, Royal Philips Electronics. K Ramachandran, Philips India CEO said that the company was growing at 17-18 percent in the last two years.

Kleisterlee who is on his maiden visit to India, said that the company would use India as a test bed to develop solutions for the `bottom-of-the-pyramid' markets. Philips has designed and launched a line of radios with integrated television bands to allow people to tune into their television programs during power cuts. The company has also introduced lower-cost alternatives to its Ambilight and Pixel Plus technologies.

He also said that the company is in the process of developing ultra low-cost chipsets for mobile phones. These would be aimed at bringing affordable access to wireless communication to the untapped base of 3.3 billion people in emerging markets like India. “With mass production of sub-$5 Nexperia Cellular system solution by 2006-end, we can enable mobile phone brands to drive handset costs below $20,” Kleisterlee said.

Philips has also forayed into telemedicine through the DISHA project to provide distance healthcare to rural communities. “We are looking for ways to bridge the digital divide. New value delivery models need to be created to make this happen and DISHA is a step in that direction,” said Ramachandran.

DISHA is a joint project started by the company in association with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the Apollo Hospital group, and DHAN Foundation.