Philips 2011 Annual Report Download - page 61

6 Sector performance 6.1 - 6.1.1
Annual Report 2011 61
6.1 Healthcare
“2011 presented an increasingly challenging economic
environment. We managed to achieve sales growth in every
quarter for the second consecutive year because our strategy to
fuel growth – with targeted investments in innovation and
business development – worked. As we further implement
Accelerate!, new products, operational improvements, and
proactive cost management will continue to propel our business
forward.” Steve Rusckowski, CEO Philips Healthcare
• A growing and aging world population, an increase in
chronic disease, a shortage of healthcare practitioners
and the rising cost of healthcare are driving the need
for meaningful and sustained innovation.
• Significant headwinds in parts of the Euro zone were
balanced by solid performance in North America and
growth geographies, where sales growth outpaced
mature geographies.
• Investments in innovation, sales and service, to some
extent funded through productivity initiatives, helped
accelerate growth.
• We are on track to fulfill our goal to positively impact
500 million lives around the world by 2015.
6.1.1 Healthcare landscape
We operate in a world challenged by the need to keep a
growing and aging population healthy and productive as
costs continue to rise. People around the world are living