Philips sells 70 percent stake in TV business

Royal Philips Electronics NV has announced the sale of 70 percent of its television production division to Hong Kong-based TPV Technology Ltd. Philips will continue to own the remaining 30 percent and will collect 50 million euros (US$72 million) in royalties every year starting in 2013.

The deal should be finalized this summer and actual joint operations are expected to begin later in the year.

Frans Van Houten, CEO of Netherlands-based Philips, believes the company can make up some of its losses by combining "Philips' innovation power" with TPV's manufacturing strength. Houten said that the new joint venture will put Philips in a better position to compete with television giants Samsung and Sony.


Van Houten, who only took over control of Philips at the beginning of April, has wasted no time in trying to fix the decrepit television division, which employs more than 4000 people.

Philips now plans to focus efforts on health and well-being products, including LED lightbulb technology - an area that Philips pioneered several years ago - which is now gaining lots of momentum as it has been discovered that popular CFLs (compact flourescent lightbulbs) emit high levels of "dirty electricity", ultra violet radiation associated with skin, respiratory, and neurological disorders.