Reflecting its humble beginnings 100 years ago as a lightbulb maker, Philips NV’s full name is Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken NV, and apart from the fact that none of us can remember how to spell it – the above is just our best guess – Glowing Lamp Factory is a rather low-tech name for a diversified consumer and industrial electronics company: accordingly, reports Agence France Presse, which didn’t dare risk trying to get its keyboard around the old name, the company is proposing to shareholders that at the May 2 annual meeting, they vote to change the name to Philips Electronics NV; it says it also plans to simplify its management structure at the top level.
