Philips Lighting outlines Middle East expansion strategy

As part of the company's growth, Philips Lighting has so far overseen US$4b in acquisitions in the past 24 months alone - 40% of the group's overall buyouts.

Philips Lighting, which contributes 25% of sales to Philips' US$46 billion global operation, has emerged targeting large-scale building contracts in the Middle East, matched with equally ambitious growth targets.

Provoost, announced the company's aim to command a 30% market share in the UAE's project business by 2010, up from 20% currently.

He said offering eco-friendly lighting to contractors was the key to capturing projects, as developers looked for environmental solutions to ensure a more sustainable future.

Globally, Philips Lighting employs 60,000 people in 100 factories throughout 60 countries. Forty per cent of the business is lamps, 40% is lighting solutions, and 20% is lighting electronics: solar, digital and LED based.

In the past few years Philips has been extremely active to develop its presence in emerging countries and now the Middle East is placed as a strategic market for Philips.

"We've been here (Middle East) with lighting since 2004, growing 40 to 50% year-on-year and will continue to do that particularly with the growth curves we're seeing here. The broader plan is to triple the business in the Middle East within the next three years, and lighting is part of this," Provoost said.

"Currently, we occupy 20% of the UAE project lighting business and want this to grow to 27% in two years. In Europe and the United States our presence is nearer 30 to 40%. Our overall market share in the UAE's light sector is about 15%. The rest of the market is extremely fragmented with many small players."

In the UAE Philips has been responsible for lighting the Ice Café in Times Square, Business Bay crossing's overhead lighting, as well as the blue signature along the side that reflects on the creek at night and the Emarat petrol stations.

Provoost estimates that of all lighting in the UAE, up to half is inefficient and contributes this to outdated technology still being utalised.

"If you take LED-based lights, which are 11 watts, they give practically the same output of a halogen lamp. By turning the extra heat into light, you become more energy-efficient and you save on the air conditioning costs," claims Provoost.

"In the retail sector, if you replace a halogen bulb with a more efficient CDM light there is a 70 per cent energy saving, which also saves 140kg of carbon dioxide per year."

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