Philips Computers

Philips Telecommunicatie en Informatie Systemen (Philips Computers) was a subsidiary of Philips that designed and manufactured personal computers.[1][2] Philips Computers was active from 1963 through 1992.[3] Before that, Philips produced three computers between 1953 and 1956, all for internal use, PETER, STEVIN, and PASCAL.[4]

Philips Computers was mostly known for its pioneer work in optical devices (through a separate subsidiary: LMSI). Philips computers were also sold under the Magnavox brand in North America. Two instances of Philips Computers products sold under other brands are known to date.

Philips computers were coupled with Philips monitors. Philips had far more success selling its monitors than its computers. Philips monitors continue being designed, produced and sold globally contemporaneously. Philips also had and has moderate success selling peripherals such as mice, keyboards and optical devices. Philips also sold and sells computer media such as diskettes and optical media (CD)s.

Philips also developed the CD-i standard but it flopped. Another experimental product was the Philips :YES, based on Intel's 80186. It also flopped.

Philips PCs were mostly equipped with motherboards designed by Philips Home Electronics in Montreal, Canada.[5]

In the late 1990s Philips Pentium PCs were sold based on generic components and cases. These were not proprietarily designed and produced.

Philips had a subsidiary that sold the PCs under the Vendex brand: HeadStart.[6] These systems were actively marketed in certain markets through Vendex. These systems were on display in the now defunct warehouse chain Vroom & Dreesmann in the Netherlands. Some HeadStart PCs were manufactured in South Korea by Samsung and monitors by Daewoo.[7]

In the 2000s Philips briefly introduced a handheld PC: the Velo.

Products

P 20 series (Z80 CPU) P 21 series (8088 CPU) P 22 series (286 CPU) P 31 series (8088 CPU) P 32 series (286 CPU) P 33 series (386 CPU) P 34 series (486 CPU)

• Philips P 2000 C
• Philips P 2000 M
• Philips P 2000 T
• Philips P 2010
• Philips P 2012
• Philips P 2015

• Philips P 2120 (desktop) (1990s green design)

• Philips P 2230 (desktop) (1990s green design)

• Philips P 3100 (desktop)