The origins of the Philips lighting business date back to 1891, although the independent Philips Lighting company was established during the separation of Philips’ lighting activities in 2016.2

1891–1910s: The Philips beginnings

The history of Philips Lighting began when Gerard Philips and Frederik Philips founded the Philips company in Eindhoven, Netherlands, in 1891. The original enterprise focused heavily on electric lamps at a time when electric lighting was an emerging technology. Developing reliable incandescent lamps was a critical component of the transition from gas and oil lighting to electricity. Over subsequent decades, lighting became one of the defining pillars of the business. Philips eventually evolved from a lamp manufacturer into a major multinational technology company, with lighting remaining a core activity throughout its history.3

Expansion into a global lighting company

During the 20th century, Philips established itself as one of the world’s most recognised lighting manufacturers. Its portfolio expanded significantly beyond traditional household incandescent bulbs to encompass technologies including:

• Incandescent lamps
• Fluorescent lamps
• Halogen lamps
• Compact fluorescent lamps
• Discharge lamps
• Automotive lighting
• Professional luminaires
• Architectural lighting
• Outdoor and street lighting
• LED lighting
• Electronic lighting controls

This progression marked a strategic shift from being solely a lamp manufacturer to a provider of complete lighting systems. This distinction became increasingly important as lighting technology evolved from standalone bulbs to integrated systems featuring LEDs, sensors, networking, and software.

The transition to LED

A pivotal technological transformation in the company’s history was the shift from conventional lighting to LEDs (light-emitting diodes). Compared to traditional technologies, LEDs offered lower energy consumption, longer operating life, compact form factors, digital controllability, tunable colours, easier integration with sensors, and compatibility with IoT systems. By the 2010s, Philips Lighting had moved beyond selling replacement bulbs to providing LED luminaires, connected lighting, controls, and digital lighting systems.

Separation from Royal Philips

In the 2010s, Royal Philips decided to separate its lighting activities to focus on health technology. A standalone structure for these activities was established on February 1, 2016, leading to Philips Lighting becoming a separately listed company.4

2016 IPO

In May 2016, Philips Lighting was introduced to public markets on Euronext Amsterdam under the ticker LIGHT. This initial public offering transformed the entity from a division of Royal Philips into an independent publicly traded company, marking a significant milestone in its corporate history.5

Following its separation from Royal Philips, the company required a new corporate identity distinct from the Royal Philips structure. In March 2018, Philips Lighting announced its intention to change its name to Signify. The new name was chosen to represent the vision of light as an “intelligent language” capable of connecting people, systems, and information.6

On May 16, 2018, the company officially announced the change from Philips Lighting N.V. to Signify N.V., while the stock ticker remained LIGHT.1

It is essential to distinguish between the corporate entity and the consumer brand. While the company became Signify, the Philips name remained on lighting products. Signify entered into a licensing arrangement with Royal Philips allowing it to continue using the Philips brand for lighting products and services.8

The evolution of this relationship can be summarised as follows:

• 1891: Philips lighting business established.
• 2016: Philips Lighting becomes a separate company.
• 2018: Philips Lighting becomes Signify.
• Present: Signify operates Philips-branded lighting products.

Therefore, while Philips ≠ Signify corporately, Philips lighting products are largely part of Signify’s business operations.

Today, Philips remains Signify’s principal global lighting brand. Signify describes Philips as its global professional lighting brand, covering applications ranging from homes and offices to industry, street lighting, horticulture, and sports.9 When consumers purchase items such as Philips LED bulbs, ceiling lights, outdoor lamps, professional luminaires, or industrial lighting products, the product bears the Philips brand, but the manufacturing and operating company is Signify.

Philips Lighting covers an exceptionally broad range of lighting applications historically and in the present day.

Consumer lighting

Products designed for residential users include LED bulbs, decorative lamps, ceiling lights, downlights, spotlights, outdoor residential lighting, and smart lighting. These are generally sold through retail and e-commerce channels.

Professional lighting

Professional lighting represents a technically complex segment serving offices, factories, warehouses, retail stores, hospitals, schools, hotels, airports, stadiums, roads, public buildings, and industrial facilities. Offerings in this category often include complete luminaires, lighting controls, sensors, and software rather than simple replacement lamps. Signify identifies Philips as its primary professional-lighting brand.7

Street and outdoor lighting

Philips-branded lighting has historically been prominent in public infrastructure, including street lighting, highways, tunnels, pedestrian areas, public squares, parking areas, and urban lighting. The transition to LED has enabled these installations to become more efficient and increasingly connected.

Architectural lighting

Lighting is also utilised as an architectural and aesthetic element for buildings, bridges, monuments, entertainment venues, hotels, commercial developments, and façades. Signify owns Color Kinetics, a brand specialising in dynamic architectural lighting systems.

Philips Hue

Philips Hue is one of the most recognisable consumer lighting products associated with the brand, representing the shift toward smart home lighting. Unlike conventional lighting, Hue allows users to adjust brightness, change colour, select scenes, automate schedules, control lights remotely, and integrate with smart-home ecosystems. Although it carries the Philips name, Philips Hue is part of the Signify ecosystem.

Connected lighting and IoT

A significant strategic shift involved moving toward connected lighting. Whereas traditional lighting followed a path of “light bulb → electricity → light,” connected lighting integrates sensors, networks, software, data, and control. Modern installations can collect information on occupancy, energy consumption, environmental conditions, operating status, and usage patterns, making lighting part of a broader Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure. Signify’s strategy specifically focuses on connecting lighting with networks, software, sensors, and IoT platforms.

Interact platform

For professional connected lighting, Signify developed the Interact platform. This software and systems ecosystem manages connected luminaires, sensors, control systems, networks, and data. Interact illustrates the company’s evolution from selling lamps to providing lighting systems and digital services.

Horticultural lighting

Artificial lighting is used in agriculture and controlled-environment growing to influence plant growth in greenhouses, indoor farms, vertical farms, plant research facilities, and commercial horticulture. Philips/Signify has developed specialised technologies for these environments, treating light as a tool for controlling biological processes.

Automotive lighting

Historically, Philips was a major supplier of automotive lamps, including headlamps, signal lamps, interior lamps, and replacement bulbs. However, the modern Signify business should not be confused with every lighting-related business historically associated with Philips, as the broader corporate portfolio has changed substantially over time.

The technological progression of Philips Lighting is outlined below:

This evolution explains the corporate rebranding to Signify, as the business expanded far beyond lamp manufacturing.

Understanding the specific entities within the Philips lighting landscape is necessary for clarity:

• Royal Philips: The Dutch health-technology company that emerged after separating its lighting business.
• Signify N.V.: The independent lighting company that emerged from Philips Lighting.
• Philips Lighting: The corporate name used between the 2016 separation and the 2018 renaming.
• Philips: A licensed lighting brand used by Signify.
• Philips Hue: A smart-lighting brand associated with Signify.

The corporate separation and subsequent name change are documented by both Signify and Royal Philips.8

Philips lighting has historically been positioned around several key attributes:

• Reliability: Over a century of recognition for dependable electrical and lighting products.
• Energy efficiency: A focus on efficiency driven by the transition from incandescent to fluorescent and LED technologies.
• Innovation: Consistent investment in new technologies from early electric lamps to connected lighting.
• Professional expertise: A substantial heritage in professional lighting beyond household bulbs.
• Smart lighting: Representation of the transition into connected consumer technology through products like Philips Hue.

Current brand messaging emphasises quality, reliability, innovation, and energy efficiency.9

Philips Lighting developed into a global enterprise. At the time of the 2018 renaming, Signify reported operations in more than 70 countries, with approximately 32,000 employees and 2017 sales of approximately €7 billion.12 Its products serve both consumer markets (homes, apartments) and professional markets (businesses, governments, infrastructure, industrial facilities, commercial buildings, and public spaces).

Philips maintains a recognisable presence in Southeast Asian markets such as Indonesia, where Philips-branded lighting products have been sold for many years. Regional websites identify Signify as the company licensing and operating the Philips lighting brand, listing applications including homes, offices, industry, street lighting, horticulture, and sports.10 Consequently, seeing “Philips” on a lighting product in the region indicates that the product is part of the Signify business under license, rather than being manufactured directly by Royal Philips’ current health-technology division.11

Signify’s portfolio extends beyond the core Philips brand:

Signify identifies these among its global lighting brands.12

The Philips name possesses significant historical value in the lighting sector, having been associated with the industry since 1891. This longevity provides over a century of accumulated consumer and professional recognition.13 This explains the corporate arrangement where Signify owns and operates the business while retaining Philips as the consumer-facing brand, allowing for an independent corporate identity alongside established market recognition.

The historical importance of Philips Lighting extends beyond commercial products to its participation in major transitions in artificial lighting: Electric lighting → mass-market lamps → fluorescent lighting → halogen → LED → smart/connected lighting. The most significant modern transition is the shift toward lighting as digital infrastructure. A modern connected luminaire functions simultaneously as a light source, electronic device, sensor, network node, and software interface. This transformation is central to the strategic evolution from Philips Lighting into Signify.

1891

Gerard and Frederik Philips establish Philips in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Lighting becomes the foundation of the company’s early business.14

20th century

Philips becomes a major international lighting manufacturer, expanding into numerous lamp and lighting technologies.

Late 20th–early 21st century

Philips expands into professional lighting, electronics, LED technologies, and increasingly sophisticated luminaires.

2016

Philips separates its lighting activities into Philips Lighting N.V.

May 2016

Philips Lighting becomes publicly listed on Euronext Amsterdam under ticker LIGHT.15

March 2018

Philips Lighting announces its intention to rename itself Signify while retaining the Philips brand for its lighting products.15

May 2018

Philips Lighting N.V. officially becomes Signify N.V.1

2018 onward

Signify continues developing Philips-branded lighting while expanding connected lighting, IoT, software, smart-home, and professional lighting systems.

Today

Philips is the lighting brand; Signify is the company behind the Philips-branded lighting business.16

Philips Lighting was the lighting division of Royal Philips that became an independent company in 2016 and was renamed Signify in 2018; Signify continues to sell lighting products under the licensed Philips brand, making Philips one of the world’s most recognizable modern lighting brands.16

1. Philips Lighting is now Signify | Signify Company Website
2. Philips Lighting is now Signify – News | Philips
3. Annual Report
4. Philips Lighting announces intention to change company name to Signify while keeping the Philips brand for its products | Philips Lighting
5. About us | Philips lighting
6. Royal Philips – 20-F 2018
7. Tentang kami | Philips lighting
8. Philips Lighting sekarang menjadi Signify | Situs Web Signify Company
9. Philips Lighting is now Signify | Signify Company Website
10. 飞利浦照明现更名为昕诺飞 – 2018年新闻公告 – Signify公司网站
11. Philips Lighting heet nu Signify – Blog | Philips
12. Philips Lighting is now Signify
13. Philips Lighting becomes Signify
14. Philips Lighting anuncia la intención de cambiar el nombre de la compañía a Signify mientras mantiene la marca Philips para sus productos | Philips Lighting
15. 飞利浦照明将更名为Signify – 2018年新闻公告 – Signify公司网站
16. Philips Lighting | About Signify