Philips fails to find a buyer for its universal control line-- and shuts down the Pronto line as a result.
It’s all quiet from Eindhoven (we mean Amsterdam these days) which is unusual. Philips just shut the doors on Pronto in Leuven, Belgium and left the market upset and puzzled.
“We tried to sell it,” says the CE giant. But they didn’t try too hard. And frankly selling a peanut is just too much trouble for an elephant. Small deals make just as much paperwork as big ones.
What went wrong? The only indication was their announcement about trying to shift production to Asia last year. Some blame labour restrictions. Employees in Belgium work 12 months but get paid for 13. They also get 4 weeks vacation, so they work 11 months for 13 months pay.
We shouldn’t pick on Belgium as much of W. Europe is equally expensive, but Philips seems to be blaming the costs in the Land of Beer for closing down Pronto. But producing kit in Europe and Asia is not a new skill set for the conglomerate that has survived the CE wars in TV, audio, CD players, VCRs, portable audio and cassettes.
The pronto closure of the Pronto division leaves lots of loyal installers in a pickle. These installers were hit with a big wholesale price increase from Pronto last year and some think Pronto became too expensive versus RTI, Universal Electronics and Control4.
Consumer Lifestyle products at Philips is facing the greatest challenge of its business life...after fighting all the CE recessions, now it faces the transition from analogue to digital products. And the top management, those guys that moved the HQ from Eindhoven to Amsterdam, have no loyalty to consumer electronics. Their new love is consumer health products (including related areas, see our link).
Go Where Philips Consumer Lifestyle is Really Headed (less “remote” and more up close and personal)
UPDATE: Philips issues a letter of clarification to its Pronto dealers. Although the company will stop selling Pronto products, it will still offer product service and support.
Current Pronto Products will be available until November.
The ProntoEdit Professional3 (PEP3) will also be released as scheduled. Philips says it will provide firmware updates for all TSU and RFX devices to be fully compatible with the PEP3.
Go Philps Pronto Dealer Letter
