Philips 2007 Annual Report Download - page 12

Philips Annual Report 2007 15
continue to progress in spite of economic headwind. I am
convinced that unrelenting focus on the needs of the market,
along with rigorous and consistent execution of our plans,
will enable us to continue delivering on our promise of
sustained protable growth. This will bring us a step closer
to the realization of our Vision 2010 ambition and create
lasting value for all our stakeholders and in particular for
you, our shareholder.
Final thoughts
On a personal note, I would like to thank Theo van
Deursen, who will be retiring on April 1 this year, for his
outstanding contribution over a period of some 35 years,
latterly as CEO of Philips Lighting, where he has been the
architect and driving force of the new, expanding Lighting
sector. I wish him all the best for his retirement.
With Rudy Provoost we have a good successor for
Theo, one who will steer the next phase of growth
and expansion at Philips Lighting, having profoundly
transformed our Consumer Electronics businesses. I am
also very pleased to have Andrea Ragnetti as the leader
of our Consumer Lifestyle sector, where he will combine
his marketing skills with the best of DAP and CE.
Together with Steve Rusckowski’s in-depth knowledge
and experience of Healthcare, we have three strong
sector leaders working closely together with me and my
colleagues Pierre-Jean Sivignon and Gottfried Dutiné to
provide Philips with the leadership it needs to move to
a higher performance level.
We also have to say goodbye to Wim de Kleuver, the
Chairman of our Supervisory Board, whose stewardship,
wisdom and experience we have always valued. I wish
him the very best for the future.
Finally, on behalf of the entire Board of Management,
I would like to express my thanks to you, our shareholders,
for your continued support as we strive – supported by
the dedication and drive of our people – to full the
promise of the future set out in Vision 2010.
Gerard Kleisterlee
President
We completed the acquisition of Partners in Lighting
International, the leading European manufacturer of home
luminaires, an area where solid-state lighting (SSL) will
bring major benets in terms of creating atmospheres
and reducing energy consumption.
Further lighting acquisitions included Color Kinetics,
a US-based leader in innovative LED lighting systems,
with a broad technology and intellectual property portfolio
(controls and intelligent technology). In this way we are
building a strong position through the complete SSL
value chain for future growth in energy-efcient lighting
solutions using LED sources.
Toward the end of the year we announced the acquisition
of major North American luminaire manufacturer Genlyte,
giving us the leading position in the US market for professional
lighting applications.
Together, these actions have signicantly strengthened
our global leadership position in the market for advanced,
energy-efcient lighting solutions, creating a Lighting
sector with sales of over EUR 7 billion going forward.
Leveraging end-user-driven innovation, marketing and
supply excellence, we will drive protability by managing
for growth.
Consumer Lifestyle
Combining CE and DAP’s complementary strengths will
boost Philips’ consumer lifestyle proposition as a whole,
creating a new business sector based on deep end-user
insight, cutting-edge design and rich consumer experiences ,
rather than product categories.
In Consumer Lifestyle we have chosen a strategic direction
which is based on the fundamental insight that our target
customer is increasingly interested in personal well-being.
Exploiting Philips’ innovative capability, brand and
distribution strength will enable Consumer Lifestyle to
further drive the portfolio in the direction of sustainable
high-margin positions in the well-being space, as well as
providing us with a platform to grow into new value
spaces. At the same time, the coming year will see us
take decisive steps to structurally deal with the issue
of unsatisfactory protability at Connected Displays.
Focus on execution
We are close to being the Philips we envisaged when
we set out to transform the company in 2001. We are
no longer inward-looking, but market and customer-
oriented, no longer volatile and cyclical, but ready to
98 Risk management 112 Our leadership 116 Report of the Supervisory Board 126 Financial Statements