The Philips Projector Lamp Business Model Evolves

The super-massive, Dutch, consumer electronics company, Philips, continues to evolve their business model as it pertains to projector lamps. Recently the company announced plans to move further into the high-power lamp industry for cinema projectors, by acquiring Lighting Technologies International. LTI, as the company is known, is a United States based manufacturer of Xenon projector lamps. Xenon projector lamps are usually used in the application of high-end cinema projectors, but also can be used for stage and studio lighting.

The move by Philips to acquire LTI further defines the company’s business model that has been in operation for the past three years or so. In 2005, Philips decided to stop manufacturing projector’s to focus solely on the production of projector lamps and since then the company has moved more aggressively into all projector lamp markets. The acquisition of LTI, for around $40 million dollar US, will grant Philips access to some of the best xenon lamp manufacturing techniques in the world. LTI manufactures xenon projector lamps that are much more energy efficient than the rest of their competitors, thereby making the costs to operate such bulbs much, much lower.

Xenon projector lamps or short-arc xenon lamps as they are known in the industry, operate similarly to standard mercury UHP projector lamps, only they operate with higher lumens, wattage and ignition voltage. Xenon short-arc lamps were invented in the 1940’s in Germany and first introduced to the general public by the Osram family of companies in 1951. Xenon lamps have gained wide acceptance in movie theaters all around the world, however, in the past they have operated with poor energy efficiency.

Philips, by purchasing LTI, hopes to use their new acquired knowledge base to lead the way in the xenon lamp industry, as they continue to do in the traditional UHP projector lamp market. For more information Google “Philips LTI xenon� today!