During it’s fourth quarter earnings conference call, Philips Lighting CEO Eric Rondolat announced that some time in the next few months, Philips will be changing its name.
“We intend to announce our new corporate name in the first half of 2018,” Rondolat said. “Needless to say, we will continue to use the Philips brand for our product as we have a brand license agreement for the coming decade.” Rondolat did not give any specifics about the new name or a date for the announcement.
There are indications that the new name will reflect a commitment to connected lighting. Philips recently hired former Cisco executive Chris White to lead the operations in North America. Rondolat talked about strategies with connected lighting during its conference call.
“The first one is the move to LED. This one is well engaged,” the Philips boss said. “The second one is to move to systems, and this one has started, but still has fabulous potential ahead. You know, we were talking about 29 million light points that we have connected, but there are 26 billion light points on the planet at this point in time, so yes, it’s growing, it’s profitable, and we think there’s a sizable business ahead. The third part of the transformation is services, which is just starting at this point in time, and moving forward. In fact, ten years from now, I will talk about light as a language. We see a fabulous potential ahead, but it’s true that at this point in time, systems and services is at the center of the big growth that we enjoy and that we still believe we are going at during the coming quarters.”
On a side note, the name change comes as the stadium naming rights deal with Philips and the Atlanta Hawks is coming to a close. In 1999, Philips agreed to a 20-year naming deal, which is set to expire next year. The Hawks did not say anything specific about the current deal with Philips, but CEO Steve Koonin did say he was looking for some options. ““We’re getting ready to go out and see the market. With all the things that are being contemplated in downtown renovation, we want to have everything set in place,” Koonin told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
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