‘We are an innovative company,’ says Jakobs, and that is precisely why this reorganization is needed: to push innovative power ‘forward’, ‘closer to customers and within the company’. Jakobs calls this “an important step we need to take for the future of Philips” and one that is painful for the employees concerned. “Especially in corporate research, which is a bit further away from the market and customers.”
This department has, according to Jakobs, “a great job” “in the past in another business model that we had.” At the same time, according to Jakobs, “it won’t be able to curb the pattern change,” “because that’s how customers expect us to develop for their innovations.”
“Reorganisation is painful for affected employees”
Business driven innovation
Jakobs points out successful innovations in diagnostic imaging or image-guided therapy that have mainly been developed from the commercial side. ‘Lately we’ve seen great new products come out of the business. Of course with the help of technology that has also been developed in the Corporate Resource Center, but not only’. According to Jakobs, innovation is increasingly a combination of hardware, software and services. He points out that Natlab has always been very focused on hardware development.
Philips was the big winner on the AEX Damrak index on Monday with its price up nearly 11 percent. The health technology group reported increased revenue in the recent quarter but suffered a loss in the millions. That’s because the company set aside €575 million for a possible US claim in connection with the recall of sleep apnea devices. Defective devices, where the insulating foam could crumble, have kept Philips in its grip for years and the company has already released around one billion euros for the recall itself.