Philips, the Dutch electronics group, on Monday said it would spin off its lossmaking television division into a joint venture with Chinese TV manufacturer TPV Technology.
The venture, which will have a licence to market TVs in Europe under the Philips brand, was the first big move by chief executive Frans van Houten, who took over on April 1.
Analysts had been pressing for Philips to do something about its TV business for months, particularly since it warned last month that TV sales would show a higher-than-expected loss in the first quarter. TVs made up 13 per cent of the company’s sales in 2010.
“We believe TV was the most negative element in the portfolio of the group, because it diluted margins, had a negative impact on top-line growth and also on the risk profile,” said Victor Bareno of SNS Securities.