The Philips Semiconductors arm of Philips Electronics NV will phase out its Sunnyvale-based Signetics Co in its present form on January 1, and its operations will be carried on in three organisations that report directly to Philips Semiconductors in Eindhoven, Netherlands: the North American Regional Sales Organisation, the Standard IC Business Group, and the Application Specific IC Business Group. Signetics president James Dykes will leave the company at the end of the year, but Signetics’ sales and support infrastructure will be retained within the North American Regional Sales Organisation. Similar Sales Organisations have been established for Europe, Japan and Korea, and the rest of Southeast Asia. Within their geographic areas these market the products developed and manufactured by Philips’ four integrated circuit business groups, including the Consumer and Industrial groups headquartered in Eindhoven. The two groups in Sunnyvale will direct worldwide strategic marketing, product development and production for their respective product lines with the Standard IC group responsible for programmable and standard logic parts and military circuits, and the Application Specific IC group for products for industrial, automotive and data processing applications. The latter will manage existing manufacturing facilities in Sunnyvale and Albuquerque, New Mexico. One aim is to persuade North American customers to look beyond the Signetics operation to exploit the full depth and strength of Philips’ worldwide product line.
