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| Formerly | Philips Consumer Lifestyle |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Electronics |
| Founded | 2021 (as Versuni) |
| Headquarters | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
Key people | Véronique Pauwels (President, CEO) |
| Products | Consumer electronics,small appliances |
| Brands | Philips (under license fromPhilips),Gaggia,Saeco (under license from Evoca),Senseo, L'Or, Preethi |
| Revenue |  €2.2billion (2021) |
| Owner | Hillhouse Investment |
| Website | www |
Versuni (formerly Philips Consumer Lifestyle) is a privately owned Dutch company, headquartered inAmsterdam, which producesconsumer electronics andsmall appliances. Formerly a subsidiary of Dutch electronics conglomeratePhilips, it was sold to Chineseprivate equity firmHillhouse Investment in 2021.[1] Versuni sells their products under thePhilips brand name (under license), as well as under the brands Preethi,Gaggia andSaeco (under license from Italian coffee-maker manufacturer Evoca Group),Senseo and L'Or and Baristina.
While Philips' first product was manufactured in 1891, the first product that would fit in the Consumer Electronics division was atelevision, experimentally manufactured in 1925. In 1927, Philips began producingradios. Only five years later, Philips had sold one million of them. One other major product release came in 1963, when theCompact Cassette was introduced.[citation needed]
After Philips Consumer Electronics acquired companies asMagnavox andSylvania in the late-1970s, Philips managed to sell their 100-millionth TV-set in 1984.
Throughout the 1990s, increasing competition from East Asian manufacturers (initially Japanese, then Korean and Chinese) led to a general erosion in market share, particularly in developing markets such as India.[2][3][4] As a result, consumer electronics became an increasingly smaller part of their business, leading to a variety of divestments.[2]
In 2008, Philips transferred its American television business to Japanese companyFunai, allowing them to sell and distribute TVs under the Philips andMagnavox brands for the American market.[5] In 2010, their Indian television business was transferred toVideocon, who now make Philips TVs for the Indian market under license.[3] That same year, their mainland Chinese television business was transferred to Chinese state-controlled companyTPV Technology.[6]
In 2012, Philips spun-off its loss-making TV business globally toTP Vision, a joint-venture with Chinese state-controlled companyTPV Technology (who had previously held the license to sell Philips TVs in the mainland Chinese market).[7] This excluded their American, Indian and Chinese television businesses, which had already been transferred to other licensees (as above). Philips initially held a 30% stake in the joint venture, which was sold toTPV Technology in 2014.[8]
Philips announced in January 2013[9] that it agreed to sell its consumer electronics division to Japan-basedFunai Electric Co. for €150 million (US$201.8 million). This would leave mainly consumer products for personal care and health in this division of Philips.[10] However, in October 2013, Philips announced that it would not proceed with the sale, instead initiating litigation against Funai, alleging breach of contract by Funai.[11]
In 2021, Philips sold their Domestic Appliances business toHillhouse Investment, a Chinese private-equity firm controlled by entrepreneurZhang Lei, for €3.7 billion (US$4.37 billion). As part of the deal, the new company received the right to use the Philips brand name for consumer electronics for a period of 15 years following the deal, at an estimated cost of €700 million over that time period.[1] In 2023, the company was rebranded as Versuni.[12]
Versuni has begun to target India as a key growth market, with the opening of a factory manufacturing air fryers and garment steamers inAhmedabad in 2024. It is estimated that this will increase the proportion of products Versuni sells in India that are locally manufactured from 70% to 90%.[13]
In May 2024,Bloomberg reported that Versuni was exploring the possibility of listing their Indian business, which could value it at US$800 million, and that they were in early stages of discussion with investment banks regarding this.[14]
Versuni primarily sellssmall appliances under the Philips brand (under license fromPhilips).[15] These include:
Versuni also sellsdomestic coffee makers, under the Philips,Gaggia,Saeco,Senseo and L'Or brands.
They sell a variety of home appliances in India under the Preethi brand, including mixer-grinders.
Philips-brandedelectric toothbrushes androtary shavers are not made by Versuni, but continue to be manufactured and sold byPhilips itself under its Personal Care division.
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