Philips Semiconductors Now Known as NXP

Electromagnetic News Report, Sep/Oct 2006

After being bought by a consortium of private equity investment companies, Philips Semiconductors will now simply be known as NXP.

According to CEO Frans van Houten, NXP stands for the consumer's "next experience." NXP is also associated with Philips Semiconductors' Nexperia platform where audio and video processing technologies reside.

The NXP trademark will include a "Founded by Philips" tagline as part of its branding. "We want to create the bridge between the 'next experience' and our rich heritage," said van Houten. "We have agreed as part of the disentanglement that we can use the Philips brand link to NXP Semiconductors."

NXP is planning a strategic investment in cellular baseband technologies in order to save what appears to be a lackluster baseband business. The move would also help it gain substantial market share in the mobile wireless sector. NXP will also make a sizable investment in development tools to increase product quality.