Founded in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, in 1914, Philips Research as part of Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. has expanded the scale and scope of its activities to become one of the world's major private research organizations. With laboratories in five different countries (The Netherlands, England, Germany, China and the United States) and staffed by around 2,100 people, our common vision is to create technologies that will lead to products for improving people's lives. Our activities have led to the award of some 100,000 patent and design rights, and the publishing of many thousands of technical and scientific papers.

The annual research budget of Philips Research is slightly less than 1% of Philips Electronics' annual sales, which amounted to more than 29 billion euros in 2003. Roughly two-thirds of the corporate research work is geared to the activities of the Product Divisions of Philips Electronics, with contractual agreements about programmes and costs. The remainder is research of a more exploratory nature. (Total R&D efforts of Philips Electronics amount to approximately 8% of sales.)

Scientists from a wide range of disciplines, from electrical engineering and physics to chemistry, mathematics, mechanics, information technology and software, work in close proximity, influencing and broadening each other's views. This implies that Philips Research reaps the benefits of synergy and cross-fertilization of ideas.

In close cooperation with the Philips Product Divisions, the Philips Research organization generates options for new and improved products and processes and produces important patents in many fields. These patents are important, because they protect technological achievements and enable Philips to gain access to the knowledge of others. Philips Research also provides a window on the outside scientific and technological world.