Richtige Fernseher haben Röhren!

Richtige Fernseher haben Röhren!

In Brief: On this site you will find pictures and information about some of the electronic, electrical and electrotechnical Obsolete technology relics that the Frank Sharp Private museum has accumulated over the years .
Premise: There are lots of vintage electrical and electronic items that have not survived well or even completely disappeared and forgotten.

Or are not being collected nowadays in proportion to their significance or prevalence in their heyday, this is bad and the main part of the death land. The heavy, ugly sarcophagus; models with few endearing qualities, devices that have some over-riding disadvantage to ownership such as heavy weight,toxicity or inflated value when dismantled, tend to be under-represented by all but the most comprehensive collections and museums. They get relegated to the bottom of the wants list, derided as 'more trouble than they are worth', or just forgotten entirely. As a result, I started to notice gaps in the current representation of the history of electronic and electrical technology to the interested member of the public.

Following this idea around a bit, convinced me that a collection of the peculiar alone could not hope to survive on its own merits, but a museum that gave equal display space to the popular and the unpopular, would bring things to the attention of the average person that he has previously passed by or been shielded from. It's a matter of culture. From this, the Obsolete Technology Tellye Web Museum concept developed and all my other things too. It's an open platform for all electrical Electronic TV technology to have its few, but NOT last, moments of fame in a working, hand-on environment. We'll never own Colossus or Faraday's first transformer, but I can show things that you can't see at the Science Museum, and let you play with things that the Smithsonian can't allow people to touch, because my remit is different.

There was a society once that was the polar opposite of our disposable, junk society. A whole nation was built on the idea of placing quality before quantity in all things. The goal was not “more and newer,” but “better and higher" .This attitude was reflected not only in the manufacturing of material goods, but also in the realms of art and architecture, as well as in the social fabric of everyday life. The goal was for each new cohort of children to stand on a higher level than the preceding cohort: they were to be healthier, stronger, more intelligent, and more vibrant in every way.

The society that prioritized human, social and material quality is a Winner. Truly, it is the high point of all Western civilization. Consequently, its defeat meant the defeat of civilization itself.

Today, the West is headed for the abyss. For the ultimate fate of our disposable society is for that society itself to be disposed of. And this will happen sooner, rather than later.

OLD, but ORIGINAL, Well made, Funny, Not remotely controlled............. and not Made in CHINA.

How to use the site:
- If you landed here via any Search Engine, you will get what you searched for and you can search more using the search this blog feature provided by Google. You can visit more posts scrolling the left blog archive of all posts of the month/year,
or you can click on the main photo-page to start from the main page. Doing so it starts from the most recent post to the older post simple clicking on the Older Post button on the bottom of each page after reading , post after post.

You can even visit all posts, time to time, when reaching the bottom end of each page and click on the Older Post button.

- If you arrived here at the main page via bookmark you can visit all the site scrolling the left blog archive of all posts of the month/year pointing were you want , or more simple You can even visit all blog posts, from newer to older, clicking at the end of each bottom page on the Older Post button.
So you can see all the blog/site content surfing all pages in it.

- The search this blog feature provided by Google is a real search engine. If you're pointing particular things it will search IT for you; or you can place a brand name in the search query at your choice and visit all results page by page. It's useful since the content of the site is very large.

Note that if you don't find what you searched for, try it after a period of time; the site is a never ending job !

Every CRT Television saved let revive knowledge, thoughts, moments of the past life which will never return again.........

Many contemporary "televisions" (more correctly named as displays) would not have this level of staying power, many would ware out or require major services within just five years or less and of course, there is that perennial bug bear of planned obsolescence where components are deliberately designed to fail and, or manufactured with limited edition specificities..... and without considering........picture......sound........quality........
..............The bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of todays funny gadgets low price has faded from memory........ . . . . . .....
Don't forget the past, the end of the world is upon us! Pretty soon it will all turn to dust!

Have big FUN ! !
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©2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 Frank Sharp - You do not have permission to copy photos and words from this blog, and any content may be never used it for auctions or commercial purposes, however feel free to post anything you see here with a courtesy link back, btw a link to the original post here , is mandatory.
All sets and apparates appearing here are property of Engineer Frank Sharp. NOTHING HERE IS FOR SALE !
All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within Fair Use.


Friday, January 14, 2011

PHILIPS 18C636 /30Z RAFFAEL COLOR 636 YEAR 1977.





















The PHILIPS 18C636 /30Z RAFFAEL COLOR 636 is A 18 Inches color television from PHILIPS with Program push buttons switcher and 12 Preselections without remote.

Is first PHILIPS COLOR PORTABLE TELEVISION with In Line CRT TUBE technology.
An in-line type triple electron gun assembly wherein there is provided a central electron gun member; there are disposed on both sides of the central electron gun member in the same plane a pair of electron gun members whose axis defines a prescribed angle of inclination to that of the central electron gun member; the first and second grid electrodes of each of the paired electron gun members consist of a substantially triangular plate electrode; the plate electrodes of each of the three electron gun members have an effective surface intersecting the axis of said each member at right angles; and each plate electrode is perforated with an electron beam hole coaxial with the axis of the electron gun member. 
Earlier models were feature with a delta gun CRT tube type.

Tuning is performed with potentiometers in a rail drawbar.


For many years, mechanical turret tuners have been commonly employed in television receivers to select the VHF channels and a second rotary or continuous tuner has been used to select the UHF channels. For most television receivers, this requires two different channel selection knobs; and the tuners themselves are relatively bulky and require a relatively large amount of space within the television receiver cabinet. Because of the nature of these tuners, it also is necessary to locate them directly behind the front level panel of the receiver, which imposes significant restrictions on the cabinet design and the arrangement of parts within the cabinet, reducing the flexibility of design which would be possible if such tuners could be eliminated.

Some mechanical tuners are equipped with programmable switches to permit them to be used to select either a UHF or a VHF channel at a tuner position by programming the tuner for the local area where the television receiver is to be used. The disadvantages of the cumbersome mechanical tuners, however, are not overcome. Instead, the tuner is made even more complicated by such an arrangement.
It is desirable, and in the U.S./Europe it was  necessary, to effect selection of the UHF and VHF channels in a comparable manner. When such tuning compatibility is imposed, significant problems are encountered in providing a mechanical turret-type tuner having detented positions for all of the possible UHF channels which must be accommodated for television receivers capable of operating in any given locality in which the receiver is capable of receiving transmitted television signals. UHF turret tuners with detent tuning selection for each of the 70 possible UHF channels are difficult and expensive to manufacture, and even the display of all of the UHF channel numbers in a manner which is compatible with the display for the much smaller number of VHF channels is difficult to accomplish.

The introduction of voltage-variable capacitor or varactor tuners for the VHF and UHF bands to which a television receiver can be tuned has opened the way for electronic tuning of television receivers. This replaces the cumbersome mechanical turret tuners and allows greater flexibility in the design of the channel selection panel and in the location of tuner parts within the receiver cabinet. Even so, if the receiver is to be made capable of individual selection of any one of the 70 UHF channels in addition to the VHF channels, it has been necessary to provide a large number of individual tuning components. For example, in many prior art electronic tuner control circuits, it has been necessary to provide a separate tuning potentiometer for each of the 70 UHF channels if full capability of UHF channel selection is desired. This results in a relatively expensive tuner configuration requiring a large number of parts.

As a compromise, the number of UHF channels to which any individual receiver can be tuned generally is reduced to a number comparable to the number of VHF channels. Then, when the receiver is placed in operation in a given locality, the UHF channels in that locality are tuned by selected ones of the available UHF potentiometers. A number or some other indicia is placed on the display portion of the tuner control panel to indicate the number of the particular UHF channel which thereafter is to be selected at that position by the tuner control. Of course, if the receiver later is moved to another locality, this necessitates retuning of the UHF channels and also means that a change in the indicia on the tuner control panel must be made. This clearly is not an optimum solution to providing compatible tuning of UHF and VHF channels.
One " " new " " tuning system currently being incorporated in some television receivers uses a varactor tuner which overcomes some of the disadvantages of mechanical turret tuner by accomplishing tuning electronically. As the name indicates, the heart of such a tuner is a varactor diode which is used as a capacitive tuning element in the RF and local oscillator sections. In this system, channel selection is made by applying a given reverse bias voltage to the varactor to change its electrical capacitance. The channel selection biasing can be performed by mechanically or electrically switching approximately 5 or many more preset potentiometers.
The invention relates to a tuning unit with bandswitch for high frequency receivers, especially radio and television receivers, having a potentiometer system for the control of capacity diodes, the said potentiometer system consisting of a plurality of parallel resistance paths along which wiper contacts can be driven by means of screw spindles disposed adjacent one another in a common insulating material housing in which a bandswitch formed of metal rods is associated with each tuning spindle.

In these tuning units, the working voltages of the capacity diodes in the tuning circuits are recorded once a precise tuning to the desired frequency has been performed. A potentiometer tuning system has great advantages over the formerly used channel selectors operating with mechanically adjustable capacitors (tuning condensers) or mechanically adjustable inductances (variometers), mainly because it is not required to have such great precision in its tuning mechanism.

Tuning units with bandswitches formed of variable resistances and combined with interlocking pushbuttons controlling the supply of recorded working voltages to capacity diodes are known. It has a  sensor keyboard for local commands, includes a plurality of tuning positions each defined by an adjustable potentiometer, a neon bulb indicator, a UHF/VHF switch and a two pole momentary contact touch switch. A common tuning capacitor has a tuning voltage developed thereacross for controlling the tuning of a varactor diode tuner. A source of reference potential is coupled across the tuning potentiometers and closure of any touch switch results in the tuning capacitor being charged from the voltage reference source through the selected one of the tuning potentiometers. The neon bulbs yield a visual indication of the selected tuning position. Circuitry for automatically placing control of the tuners to a preselected one of the tuning positions upon turn on of the receiver is also included.A solid-state voltage-controlled capacitor (varactor or varicap) UHF television tuner is described which includes a varicap preselector tuned circuit, a varicap tuned RF amplifier stage inductively coupled to the preselector circuit, and a varicap tuned oscillator stage, both the oscillator stage and the amplifier stage being inductively coupled to the diode mixer stage from which an IF signal is derived. The tuners employs a single tuning voltage source doubled by the 2 tuners to tune across the entire UHF/VHF range and also includes provision for AGC. Trimmer capacitors and inductance adjusting devices of unique and advantageous configuration are employed to align the tuner. Further disclosed are unique methods of assembly and alignment for the tuner. The resistances serving as voltage dividers in these tuning units are combined into a component unit such that they are in the form of a ladderlike pattern on a common insulating plate forming the cover of the housing in which the tuning spindles and wiper contacts corresponding to the variable resistances are housed. The number of resistances corresponds to the number of channels or frequencies which are to be recorded. The wiper contact picks up a voltage which, when applied to the capacity diodes determines their capacitance and hence the frequency of the corresponding oscillating circuit. The adjustment of the wipers is performed by turning the tuning spindle coupled to the tuning knob. By the depression of a button the electrical connection between a contact rod and a tuning spindle is brought about and thus the selected voltage is applied to the capacity diodes. Since the push buttons release one another, it is possible simply by depressing another button to tune to a different receiving frequency or a different channel, as the case may be.
The problem with such arrangement is that it quite seriously limits the number of channels available to the consumer. Additionally, it suffers from the drawback that all potentiometers require adjusting for the desired channels. The VHF channels are usually factory adjusted while the six UHF channels require on-location adjustment. Moreover, using this arrangement, the only indication--during adjustment--of which channel is selected is by station identification.

All other controls are performed manually, like tone control switch.
The set is build with a Modular chassis design because as modern television receivers become more complex the problem of repairing the receiver becomes more difficult. As the number of components used in the television receiver increases the susceptibility to breakdown increases and it becomes more difficult to replace defective components as they are more closely spaced. The problem has become even more complicated with the increasing number of color television receivers in use. A color television receiver has a larger number of circuits of a higher degree of complexity than the black and white receiver and further a more highly trained serviceman is required to properly service the color television receiver.
Fortunately for the service problem to date, most failures occur in the vacuum tubes used in the television receivers. A faulty or inoperative vacuum tube is relatively easy to find and replace. However, where the television receiver malfunction is caused by the failure of other components, such as resistors, capacitors or inductors, it is harder to isolate the defective component and a higher degree of skill on the part of the serviceman is required.
Even with the great majority of the color television receiver malfunctions being of the "easy to find and repair" type proper servicing of color sets has been difficult to obtain due to the shortage of trained serviceman.
At the present time advances in the state of the semiconductor art have led to the increasing use of transistors in color television receivers. The receiver described in this application has only two tubes, the picture tube and the high voltage rectifier tube, all the other active components in the receiver being semiconductors.
One important characteristic of a semiconductor device is its extreme reliability in comparison with the vacuum tube. The number of transistor and integrated circuit failures in the television receiver will be very low in comparison with the failures of other components, the reverse of what is true in present day color television receivers. Thus most failures in future television receivers will be of the hard to service type and will require more highly qualified servicemen.
The primary symptoms of a television receiver malfunction are shown on the picture tube of the television receiver while the components causing the malfunction are located within the cabinet. Also many adjustments to the receiver require the serviceman to observe the screen. Thus the serviceman must use unsatisfactory mirror arrangements to remove the electronic chassis from the cabinet, usually a very difficult task. Further many components are "buried" in a maze of circuitry and other components so that they are difficult to remove and replace without damage to other components in the receiver.
Repairing a modern color television receiver often requires that the receiver be removed from the home and carried to a repair shop where it may remain for many weeks. This is an expensive undertaking since most receivers are bulky and heavy enough to require at least two persons to carry them. Further, two trips must be made to the home, one to pick up the receiver and one to deliver it. For these reasons, the cost of maintaining the color television receiver in operating condition often exceeds the initial cost of the receiver and is an important factor in determining whether a receiver will be purchased.
Therefore, the object of this invention is to provide a transistorized color television receiver in which the main electronic chassis is easily accessible for maintenance and adjustment. Another object of this invention is to provide a transistorized color television receiver in which the electronic circuits are divided into a plurality of modules with the modules easily removable for service and maintenance. The main electronic chassis is slidably mounted within the cabinet so that it may be withdrawn, in the same manner as a drawer, to expose the electronic circuitry therein for maintenance and adjustment from the rear closure panel after easy removal. Another aspect is the capability to be serviced at eventually the home of the owner.

Still an example of Evelasting tellye.


Featuring the KT2 CHASSIS which is fashioned
like PHILIPS K9 and PHILIPS K11 chassis.

Weights a lot.



Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Royal Philips Electronics Inc.), most commonly known as Philips, (Euronext: PHIA, NYSE: PHG) is a multinational Dutch electronics corporation.

Philips is one of the largest electronics companies in the world. In 2009, its sales were €23.18 billion. The company employs 115,924 people in more than 60 countries.[1]

Philips is organized in a number of sectors: Philips Consumer Lifestyles (formerly Philips Consumer Electronics and Philips Domestic Appliances and Personal Care), Philips Lighting and Philips Healthcare (formerly Philips Medical Systems).
he company was founded in 1891 by Gerard Philips, a maternal cousin of Karl Marx, in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Its first products were light bulbs and other electro-technical equipment. Its first factory survives as a museum devoted to light sculpture.[2] In the 1920s, the company started to manufacture other products, such as vacuum tubes (also known worldwide as 'valves'), In 1927 they acquired the British electronic valve manufacturers Mullard and in 1932 the German tube manufacturer Valvo, both of which became subsidiaries. In 1939 they introduced their electric razor, the Philishave (marketed in the USA using the Norelco brand name).

Philips was also instrumental in the revival of the Stirling engine.

As a chip maker, Philips Semiconductors was among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders.

In December 2005 Philips announced its intention to make the Semiconductor Division into a separate legal entity. This process of "disentanglement" was completed on 1 October 2006.

On 2 August 2006, Philips completed an agreement to sell a controlling 80.1% stake in Philips Semiconductors to a consortium of private equity investors consisting of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), Silver Lake Partners and AlpInvest Partners. The sale completed a process, which began December 2005, with its decision to create a separate legal entity for Semiconductors and to pursue all strategic options. Six weeks before, ahead of its online dialogue, through a letter to 8,000 of Philips managers, it was announced that they were speeding up the transformation of Semiconductors into a stand-alone entity with majority ownership by a third party. It was stated then that "this is much more than just a transaction: it is probably the most significant milestone on a long journey of change for Philips and the beginning of a new chapter for everyone – especially those involved with Semiconductors".

In its more than 115 year history, this counts as a big step that is definitely changing the profile of the company. Philips was one of few companies that successfully made the transition from the electrical world of the 19th century into the electronic age, starting its semiconductor activity in 1953 and building it into a global top 10 player in its industry. As such, Semiconductors was at the heart of many innovations in Philips over the past 50 years.

Agreeing to start a process that would ultimately lead to the decision to sell the Semiconductor Division therefore was one of the toughest decisions that the Board of Management ever had to make.

On 21 August 2006, Bain Capital and Apax Partners announced that they had signed definitive commitments to join the expanded consortium headed by KKR that is to acquire the controlling stake in the Semiconductors Division.

On 1 September 2006, it was announced in Berlin that the name of the new semiconductor company founded by Philips is NXP Semiconductors.

Coinciding with the sale of the Semiconductor Division, Philips also announced that they would drop the word 'Electronics' from the company name, thus becoming simply Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Royal Philips N.V.).


PHILIPS FOUNDATION:

The foundations of Philips were laid in 1891 when Anton and Gerard Philips established Philips & Co. in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The company begun manufacturing carbon-filament lamps and by the turn of the century, had become one of the largest producers in Europe. Stimulated by the industrial revolution in Europe, Philips’ first research laboratory started introducing its first innovations in the x-ray and radio technology. Over the years, the list of inventions has only been growing to include many breakthroughs that have continued to enrich people’s everyday lives.




In the early years of Philips & Co., the representation of the company name took many forms: one was an emblem formed by the initial letters of Philips & Co., and another was the word Philips printed on the glass of metal filament lamps.



One of the very first campaigns was launched in 1898 when Anton Philips used a range of postcards showing the Dutch national costumes as marketing tools. Each letter of the word Philips was printed in a row of light bulbs as at the top of every card. In the late 1920s, the Philips name began to take on the form that we recognize today.



The now familiar Philips waves and stars first appeared in 1926 on the packaging of miniwatt radio valves, as well as on the Philigraph, an early sound recording device. The waves symbolized radio waves, while the stars represented the ether of the evening sky through which the radio waves would travel.



In 1930 it was the first time that the four stars flanking the three waves were placed together in a circle. After that, the stars and waves started appearing on radios and gramophones, featuring this circle as part of their design. Gradually the use of the circle emblem was then extended to advertising materials and other products.



At this time Philips’ business activities were expanding rapidly and the company wanted to find a trademark that would uniquely represent Philips, but one that would also avoid legal problems with the owners of other well-known circular emblems. This wish resulted in the combination of the Philips circle and the wordmark within the shield emblem.



In 1938, the Philips shield made its first appearance. Although modified over the years, the basic design has remained constant ever since and, together with the wordmark, gives Philips the distinctive identity that is still embraced today.






Gerard Philips:

Gerard Leonard Frederik Philips (October 9, 1858, in Zaltbommel – January 27, 1942, in The Hague, Netherlands) was a Dutch industrialist, co-founder (with his father Frederik Philips) of the Philips Company as a family business in 1891. Gerard and his younger brother Anton Philips changed the business to a corporation by founding in 1912 the NV Philips' Gloeilampenfabrieken. As the first CEO of the Philips corporation, Gerard laid with Anton the base for the later Philips multinational.



Early life and education

Gerard was the first son of Benjamin Frederik David Philips (1 December 1830 – 12 June 1900) and Maria Heyligers (1836 – 1921). His father was active in the tobacco business and a banker at Zaltbommel in the Netherlands; he was a first cousin of Karl Marx.



Career

Gerard Philips became interested in electronics and engineering. Frederik was the financier for Gerard's purchase of the old factory building in Eindhoven where he established the first factory in 1891. They operated the Philips Company as a family business for more than a decade.




Marriage and family

On March 19, 1896 Philips married Johanna van der Willigen (30 September 1862 – 1942). They had no children.

Gerard was an uncle of Frits Philips, whom he and his brother brought into the business. Later they brought in his brother's grandson, Franz Otten.


Gerard and his brother Anton supported education and social programs in Eindhoven, including the Philips Sport Vereniging (Philips Sports Association), which they founded. From it the professional football (soccer) department developed into the independent Philips Sport Vereniging N.V.



Anton Philips:

Anton Frederik Philips (March 14, 1874, Zaltbommel, Gelderland – October 7, 1951, Eindhoven) co-founded Royal Philips Electronics N.V. in 1912 with his older brother Gerard Philips in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. He served as CEO of the company from 1922 to 1939.



Early life and education

Anton was born to Maria Heyligers (1836 – 1921) and Benjamin Frederik David Philips (December 1, 1830 – June 12, 1900). His father was active in the tobacco business and a banker at Zaltbommel in the Netherlands. (He was a first cousin to Karl Marx.) Anton's brother Gerard was 16 years older.



Career

In May 1891 the father Frederik was the financier and, with his son Gerard Philips, co-founder of the Philips Company as a family business. In 1912 Anton joined the firm, which they named Royal Philips Electronics N.V.

During World War I, Anton Philips managed to increase sales by taking advantage of a boycott of German goods in several countries. He provided the markets with alternative products.

Anton (and his brother Gerard) are remembered as being civic-minded. In Eindhoven they supported education and social programs and facilities, such as the soccer department of the Philips Sports Association as the best-known example.

Anton Philips brought his son Frits Philips and grandson Franz Otten into the company in their times. Anton took the young Franz Otten with him and other family members to escape the Netherlands just before the Nazi Occupation during World War II; they went to the United States. They returned after the war.

His son Frits Philips chose to stay and manage the company during the occupation; he survived several months at the concentration camp of Vught after his workers went on strike. He saved the lives of 382 Jews by claiming them as indispensable to his factory, and thus helped them evade Nazi roundups and deportation to concentration camps.

Philips died in Eindhoven in 1951.



Marriage and family

Philips married Anne Henriëtte Elisabeth Maria de Jongh (Amersfoort, May 30, 1878 – Eindhoven, March 7, 1970). They had the following children:

* Anna Elisabeth Cornelia Philips (June 19, 1899 – ?), married in 1925 to Pieter Franciscus Sylvester Otten (1895 – 1969), and had:
o Diek Otten
o Franz Otten (b. c. 1928 - d. 1967), manager in the Dutch electronics company Philips
* Frederik Jacques Philips (1905-2005)
* Henriëtte Anna Philips (Eindhoven, October 26, 1906 – ?), married firstly to A. Knappert (d. 1932), without issue; married secondly to G. Jonkheer Sandberg (d. September 5, 1935), without issue; and married thirdly in New York City, New York, on September 29, 1938 to Jonkheer Gerrit van Riemsdijk (Aerdenhout, January 10, 1911 – Eindhoven, November 8, 2005). They had the following children:
o ..., Jonkheerin Gerrit van Riemsdijk (b. Waalre, October 2, 1939), married at Waalre on February 17, 1968 to Johannes Jasper Tuijt (b. Atjeh, Koeta Radja, March 10, 1930), son of Jacobus Tuijt and wife Hedwig Jager, without issue
o ..., Jonkheerin Gerrit van Riemsdijk (b. Waalre, April 3, 1946), married firstly at Calvados, Falaise, on June 6, 1974 to Martinus Jan Petrus Vermooten (Utrecht, September 16, 1939 – Falaise, August 29, 1978), son of Martinus Vermooten and wife Anna Pieternella Hendrika Kwantes, without issue; married secondly in Paris on December 12, 1981 to Jean Yves Louis Bedos (Calvados, Rémy, January 9, 1947 – Calvados, Lisieux, October 5, 1982), son of Georges Charles Bedos and wife Henriette Louise Piel, without issue; and married thirdly at Manche, Sartilly, on September 21, 1985 to Arnaud Evain (b. Ardennes, Sedan, July 7, 1952), son of Jean Claude Evain and wife Flore Halleux, without issue
o ..., Jonkheerin Gerrit van Riemsdijk (b. Waalre, September 4, 1948), married at Waalre, October 28, 1972 to Elie Johan François van Dissel (b. Eindhoven, October 9, 1948), son of Willem Pieter
Jacob van Dissel and wife Francisca Frederike Marie Wirtz, without issue.



(To see the Internal Chassis Just click on Older Post Button on bottom page, that's simple !)



A comment...........of a 1996 reality ..................
Philips, which seems to be a perennial walking wounded case. The company had appeared to be on the mend after a worldwide cost- cutting programme which was started five years ago when Jan Timmer took over as chairman.
 But, following a sharp profits fall, with the company's first quarterly loss since 1992, a further shake up is being undertaken.
The difficulty is that the company operates in a mature market, in which prices are falling at an annual rate of six per cent. Manufacturers are competing by cutting costs to gain a larger share of static demand. It's not a situation in which any firm that does its own manufacturing can achieve much. Philips' latest plan involves an overall loss of 6,000 jobs in its consumer electronics business, with far greater reliance placed on a group of external suppliers which are referred to as "a cluster of dedicated subcontractors".

This is an approach that was pioneered many years ago by major Japanese manufacturers. Rather than make everything yourself, you rely on subcontractors who, in return, rely on you for their main source of work. It is hardly a cosy arrangement: the whole point seems to be that the major fain can exert pressure on its subcontractors, thereby - in theory - achieving optimum efficiency and cost-effectiveness. What happens when lower and lower prices are demanded for subcontracted work is not made clear.

The whole edifice could collapse. However that might be, this is the course on which Philips has now embarked. The company is also to carry out distribution, sales and marketing on a regional rather than a national basis, and has said that it will not support Grundig's losses after this year.

But Philips' chief financial officer Dudley Eustace has said that it has "no intention of abandoning the television and audio business". One has to assume that the subcontracting will also be done on an international basis, as major Japanese firms have had to do. There is a sense of déjà vu about this, though one wishes Philips well - it is still one of the major contributors to research and development in our industry.

Toshiba, which has also just appointed a new top man, Taizo Nishimoro, provides an interesting contrast. Mr Nishimoro thinks that the western emphasis on sales and marketing rather than engineering is the way to go. So the whole industry seems to be moving full circle. Taizo Nishimoro has become the first non engineering president of Toshiba. Where the company cannot compete effectively on its own, he intends to seek international alliances or go for closures. He put it as follows. "The technology and the businesses we are engaged in are getting more complex.
 In these circumstances, if we try to do everything ourselves we are making a mistake." Here's how Minoru Makihara, who became head of Mitsubishi Corporation four years ago, sees it. "Technologies are now moving so fast that it is impossible for the top manager to know all the details. 
Companies are now looking for generalists who can understand broad changes, delegate and provide leadership." Corporate change indeed amongst our oriental colleagues. Major firms the world over are facing similar problems and having to adopt similar policies.
In a mature market such as consumer electronics, you have to rely on marketing to squeeze the last little bit of advantage from such developments as Dolby sound and other added value features. The consumer electronics industry has been hoping that the digital video disc would come to its aid and get sales and profits moving ahead.
The DVD was due to be released in Sept 1996 , but we are unlikely to hear much more about it yet awhile. There's no problem with the technology: the difficulty is with licensing and software. There is obviously no point in launching it without adequate software support. But the movie companies, which control most of the required supply of software, are concerned that a recordable version of the disc, due in a couple of years' time, would be a gift to pirates worldwide. Concessions have been made by the electronics industry, in particular that different disc formats should be used in different parts of the world. But a curious problem has arisen.
 The other main use of the DVD is as a ROM in computer systems. For this application flexible copying facilities are a major requirement. But the movie companies are unwilling to agree to this. At present the situation is deadlocked and the great hope of an autumn launch, all important for sales, has had to be postponed. Next year maybe? It's a great pity, since the DVD has much to offer.
There's a lot of sad news on the retail side as well. Colorvision has been placed in administrative receivership in 1996 , with a threat to 800 jobs at its 76 stores, while the Rumbelows shops that were taken over by computer retailer Escom have suffered a similar fate. The receivers have closed down the UK chain with the loss of 850 jobs at some 150 stores. Nothing seems to be going right just now.

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