Philips Electronics (Thailand) has reshaped its lighting business to accommodate the transition from analogue to digital LED technology.
"It is a trend that people will pay more attention to for their home. They have also become aware that lighting is one important factor that makes their home more beautiful and comfortable," Prakorn Makjumroen, chairman and CEO, said last week.
The share of LED lamps and luminaires will shoot up from 10 per cent of the lighting market worth more than Bt6 billion this year to about 50 per cent in 2015, he said.
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are extremely energy efficient and long lasting. LED lights create less heat than traditional lights, which means they last longer, air-conditioners do not have to work as hard and up to 90 per cent on lighting costs can be saved.
Philips Electronics would this year launch over 200 lighting products, including LED lamps and luminaires.
Last year, a lighting unit called Consumer Luminaires was set up to promote the consumer lighting business both indoor and outdoor.
Light Studio, the first showroom for consumer luminaire products, was opened last Friday inside the HomeWorks branch in Phuket.
At least three Light Studios will be opened this year.
This year's lighting strategy will focus on providing people-centric and end user-driven lighting solutions starting with a campaign called "City.People.Light" aimed at linking city and community with people and lifestyle.
"Under the City.People.Light campaign, Philips will propose to local authorities of particular provinces proper and more efficient lighting solutions to decorate city attractions, roads and sport stadiums," Prakorn said.
Philips Electronics (Thailand) has three core businesses - lighting, healthcare and consumer lifestyle.
Last year, the lighting business grew to 29 per cent of the product portfolio, from 27 per cent in 2008 and 23 per cent in 2007, while consumer lifestyle declined to 37 per cent from 43 per cent in 2008 and 51 per cent in 2007. Healthcare was at 34 per cent.
"The consumer lifestyle products, especially TV sets, have been facing serious competition with very low profit margins. So, we need to balance our portfolio by focusing on the growth of other product segments. We however want to manage our TV business to profitability," he said.
The company last year managed to pull through the economic difficulties with stronger performance. It sales expanded 12 per cent in the second quarter, 15 per cent in the third quarter and 41 per cent in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter.
"We will this year focus on driving our performance, particularly top-line growth and market share. We will increase customer centricity by empowering local markets and customer-facing staff," he said.
For its lighting business, the company will focus on offering solutions to various industries, such as entertainment and showbiz, which demand stage lighting, office and manufacturing, hospitality and automobile.
