Philips Electronics NV’s Austrian subsidiary, and its long-standing partner Sandaplast BV of the Netherlands have announced the formation of a major joint venture, Neutronics Electronic Industries Holdings GmbH, which is mainly comprised of subsidiaries the two companies already own in Hungary. The new group starts life with 1,300 staff and sales valued at $1,094m; by 1996 the company is expected to employ 2,900 and turn over $2,700m. The management of the joint venture claimed a counterweight to the electronic competition from Far East has been established in the heart of Europe. The founding assets of Neutronics are Philip’s 30,000 square foot prouction plant in Althofen, Austria, Sandaplast’s subsidiary, Hungarian Technical Resources Kft, which makes audio equipment, Ecoplast Kft – also based in Tab, Hungary, which makes plastic parts, and 51% of Euroton Kft, a joint venture between Philips, Sandaplast and Videoton located in Sarbogard, Hungary, which produces tape drives and printed circuited boards for car radios. Sandaplast owns 60% of Neutronics and Philips 40%. Although only Ecoplast currently makes parts for the computer industry, as one of its future core activities, Neutronics is also to establish a facility in Szombathely in western Hungary which is expected to produce 800,000 14 and 15 colour monitors for computers by the time production starts in 1996. According to Neutronics chairman Humphrey Porter, half of the output from the plant will meet Philips’ own requirements for computer monitors while the other half will be sold badged on an OEM basis for a major Taiwanese computer company whose identity Neutronics would not disclose. According to Porter, Neutronics is currently preparing the site at Szombathely and it should be ready for monitor production to start this autumn; initially it the plant will assemble models already marketed by Philips.
