There’s big news this week from Philips—they’re selling most of their stake in their newly combined LED component and vehicle lighting business. Read the details in this edition of DVN.
With Philips, it is for me a long story of automotive innovations started around 50 years ago.
I remember the development in the late 1960s and start of production in 1972 of the H4 bulb producing low and high beam from one halogen bulb, which up to then had been considered impossible. I was at that time a young engineer impressed by the cutting edge technology of halogen lamps and the accuracy of the filament.
I remember the late-1980s development of the HID light source which propelled automotive lighting into the electronics era. It was one of the most difficult processes achieved by a group of experts from Philips, Osram, Bosch, Hella, and Valeo under the ægis of the European “Vedilis” consortium (VEhicle DIscharge LIght System) to define a standard HID system able to enter in the regulations. I am proud to have been a part that group.
I remember the development in the late 1990’s of LEDs for rear lamps followed a few years later by LEDs for headlamps, with the success we all enjoy now. What an enormous amount of work has been done to bring forth these innovative red, amber, then white LEDs!
I remember Philips experts and sales coming every quarter to follow the developments and to follow the needs of their customers.
If the automotive lighting community is so innovative, it is to a considerable degree thanks to Philips. Indeed, Philips Automotive Lighting together with their younger sister Lumileds can be proud of all their successes and the whole lighting community has benefitted from their work over many years. I do not forget the early Philips experts in Chartres like Claude Lavoux or Benjamin Azoulay, in Eindhoven like Jan Bindels, in Aachen like Ralf Schäfer—all professionals in lighting who impressed me. Nowadays a new generation of experts is coming to the fore and will certainly guide future innovative approaches.
Congratulations for all job done !
I wish the new organisation continued great success in innovations. Vehicle lighting has a long and bright future and I am sure that the new Lumileds company will continue the fruitful actions of the former Philips Automotive Lighting.
Sincerely yours
DVN Editor in Chief