1. It is the world’s second biggest electronics company.

2. It has produced over 100 million TV sets.

3. Its headquarters are in Amsterdam.

4. It was the first company to produce compact discs.

5. It is active in a small number of specialized business.

6. It provides the lights for famous landmarks such as London’s Tower Bridge.

The Philips Story

The foundations of the world’s biggest electronics company were laid in 1891 when Gerard Philips established a company in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, to manufacture light bulbs and other electrical products. In the beginning, it concentrated on making carbon-filament lamps and by the turn of the century was one of the largest producers in Europe. Developments in new lighting technologies fuelled a steady programme of expansion and, in 1914; it established a research laboratory to stimulate product innovation.

In the 1920s, Philips decided to protect its innovations in X-ray radiation and radio reception with patents. This marked the beginning of the diversification of its product range. Since then, Philips has continued to develop new and exciting product ideas like the compact disc, which it launched in 1983. Other interesting include the production of Philips’ 100-millionth TV set in 1984 and 250-millionth Philips have electric shaver in 1989.

The Philips Company

Philips’ headquarters are still in Eindhoven. It employs 256.400 people all over the world, and has sales and service outlets in 150 countries. Research laboratories are located in six countries, staffed by some 3.000 scientists. It also has an impressive global network of some 400 designers spread over twenty-five locations. Its shares are listed on sixteen stock exchanges in nine countries and it is active in about 100 businesses, including lighting, monitors, shavers and color picture tubes; each day its factories turn out a total of 50 million integrated circuits.

The Philips People

Royal Philips Electronics is managed by the Board of Management, which looks after the general direction and long-term strategy of the Philips group as a whole. The Supervisory Board monitors the general course of business of the Philips group as well as advising the Board of Management and supervising its policies. These policies are implemented by the Group Management Committee, which consists of the members of the Board of Management, chairmen of most of the product divisions and some other key officers. The Group Management Committee also serves to ensure that business issues and practices are shared across the various activities in the group.

The company creed is ‘Let’s make things, better’. It is committed to making better products and systems and contributing to improving the quality of people’s work and life. One recent example of this is its ‘Genie’ mobile phone. To dial a number you just have to say it aloud. Its Web TV Internet terminal brings the excitement of cyberspace into the living room. And on travels around the world, whether passing the Eiffel Tower in Paris, walking across London’s Tower Bridge, or witnessing the beauty of the ancient pyramids of Giza, you don’t have to wonder any more who lit these world famous landmarks, it was Philips.

Topic 2

Business letter

Business letter format

Notice the following points:

WRITER’S ADDRESS OR COMPANY LETTERHEAD: at the top right-hand comer. The writer’s name is not at the top of the letter.

READER’S NAME, POSITION AND ADDRESS: on the left. If you are writing to another country, write the country in the address.

DATE: on the right. Various forms of the date are possible.

OPENING SALUTATION: Use the name of the reader if you know it, without the initial. If you do not, write Dear Sirs to a company. Dear Sir to a man, Dear Madam to a woman or Dear Sir or Madam if you do not know the sex of the reader.

BODY OF THE LETTER: Start a new paragraph for each new idea or subject. Leave a line space between each paragraph. Do not break words at the end of a line.

CLOSING SALUTATION: Yours faithfully if you do not know the reader’s name, Yours sincerely if you do. (US Yours truly or Sincerely yours.)

SIGNATURE.

WRITER’S NAME AND TITLE (and position in the company, if appropriate). A man uses the title Mr. The title Mrs. shows that a woman is married; Miss shows that she is unmarried; Ms shows only that she is a woman.

BLOCK STYLE is the modern style – all paragraphs start at the left-hand margin.

PUNCTUATION: in modern business letters punctuation is not used in the headings and endings of a letter. Normal punctuation is used in the body of the letter.

Business letter terminology

Read and translate a business letter: