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Freeze Out? Until lately the company has hidden its U.S. light by operating in the U.S. through several affiliates. Recently, it merged three into one company, Consolidated Electronics, which starts out with $90 million in sales. In 1958 the Antitrust Division cited Philips among a dozen companies accused of freezing smaller U.S. TV manufacturers out of the Canadian market. Philips also has a suit against the U.S. charging that the AEC infringed Philips' Enrico Fermi patents taken out in long-ago 1934-39 and covering aspects of radioisotope production. Both suits are still pending.
In an era of rising volume and constricting profit margins, Philips is the envy of its competitors. Although 1959 sales are 15% over 1958, the profit margin actually is widening (e.g., 7.6% so far in 1959 v. 6.8% last year). Even last year, Philips' return on sales was higher than General Electric's, which was 6.1%. Looking ahead, the stockholders, whose investment has appreciated six times in ten years, firmly believe, with President Otten, that "growth is in our blood."