Saturday, November 09, 2013: Philips Lighting, the leading lighting company in India, today announced the expansion of the Philips Lighting Innovation Center (PLIC) in Noida, to boostits R&D capabilities in LED lighting and further drive the company’s LED lighting leadership in India. Philips also introduced new LEDlighting products and solutions for the Indian market which will help accelerate the market transition to digital lighting and deliver value to its customers at the same time.
The expansion of PLIC represents a technological leap for Philips Lighting India as it looks to introduce more relevant, more efficient and more cost effective products in India’s fast growing market. With an additional multi-million dollar investment in PLIC, Philips Lighting will strengthen the process of local for local innovation in LED Lighting and also shorten the time to market for more affordable products and solutions. A new building has been added to the existing facility of PLIC in Noida, and the center is also expanding its capabilities by bringing in more engineering talent as well as state-of-the-art equipment in newer areas of LEDs, intelligent lighting systems and solar-based solutions. The number of people working on core design and development at PLIC has more than doubled in the last two years, and will continue to grow in the near future.
Eric Rondolat, CEO, Philips Lighting, said, “India is a key market for Philips and we remain committed to delivering locally relevant products, systems and services to Indian businesses and consumers. With more than 30% share of the lighting market in India, Philips is the clear leader in the Indian lighting market. We value the trust that customers place in our brand andwe are investing further in local R&D capabilities to continue to develop innovative products that meet their specific needs.’’
The newly launched Philips LED lighting systems include a breakthrough intelligent lighting monitoring and control software – CityTouch which enables dynamic, intelligent and flexible control on a city-wide scale. CityTouch allows its users to manage all the lighting systems for an entire city from a single, intuitive online interface. The other launches include a street LED lighting luminaire – GreenLine Xtra which enables uniform light distribution, maintenance-free system and easy upgradation of existing light poles and, GreenLEDi – a new offering for indoor lighting which is an ideal value for money replacement for conventional solutions. Both GreenLine Xtra and GreenLEDi offer 50% energy savings and have a long life of 40,000 – 50,000 hours. For the home segment, Philips launched LED products for different applications such as a retrofit bulb and tubelight and also introduced a solar home lighting solution which will help in reducing the dependence on generators and kerosene in areas where power-cutsare very high.
As a strong proof point of the importance of local innovation, PLIC has developed more than 150 LED-based lighting products and solutions in the last two years. Today, close to 90% of Philips Lighting India’s revenue comes from products and solutions which are designed and manufactured in India for the Indian market.
Mr. Nirupam Sahay, President, Philips Lighting India, strongly believes that LEDs are the future of lighting. “We feel that LEDs will capture 45 per cent of the India lighting market by 2017-18.With rapid urbanization, LEDs, given their long life, low maintenance, superior color rendering and above all energy efficiency, are the answer to our need for sustainable lighting solutions. At Philips, we are well positioned to support the market with products that feature international quality combined with local consumer insights. The Philips Lighting Innovation Centre forms a key cornerstone of our strategy as we look towards introducing innovative products for both the Indian and global markets”
He further added, “With the Indian LED lighting market currently growing at a CAGR of 45% and expected to be about half a billion dollar market by 2015 ($480 – 500 million), Philips looks forward to exciting growth as demand picks up.”
The PLIC in Noida plays a vital role towards engineering the company’s success as the leaders in the lighting market and LED solutions. The facility has customized and developed many successful products. GreenLine and GreenLED is a series of outdoor and indoor LED lights respectively, which have been indigenously designed and created at the PLIC. These dynamic, maintenance free, LED luminaires are endowed with good optics design, high energy savings and long life.
This announcement comes close on heels of the brand’s biggest ever marketing campaign for LED lighting category which has just been launched. Philips Lighting signed on well-known actors Ranbir Kapoor and Shruti Hassan as brand ambassadors for Philips LED Lighting. The comprehensive 360 degree campaign which is currently making waves covers all important media including Print, Outdoor, Out-of-home, PR and Digital alongside Television.
Philips Lighting is taking the lead in driving consumer preference to the LED phenomenon, by bringing forth its performance and style aspects. LEDs offer unlimited opportunities in lighting with the play of colors, dimming and compatibility with controls. This, in combination with the functional benefits like energy saving (up to 80% over conventional lighting), long life (10–15 years of life) and eco-friendliness (no UV/IR radiations), makes it the best lighting technology available. Lighting consumes approximately 20% of the electricity globally, and with the use of new and efficient LED solutions combined with smart lighting controls, it has the ability to reduce energy spends by a staggering 40%.
