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| Same lantern, different manufacturer http://ukastle.co.uk/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=346 |
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| Author: | sotonsteve [ Sun Oct 23, 2011 8:44 am ] |
| Post subject: | Same lantern, different manufacturer |
There are some lanterns that have been produced but sold under different brand names, rebadged under licence. It was touched upon in this thread, and I thought we could talk about it more in this thread. In the old days it seems Philips sold a lot of lanterns under licence from other manufacturers. Here is a list of examples: Philips MA3 - Eleco SR304/5 Philips MA4 - cross between Eleco GR151/152 Philips MA5(C) - Eleco GR150/(151) Philips MA6(C) - Eleco GR200/(201) Philips MA9(C) - Eleco GR100/(101) Philips MI5 - Phosco P223/225 Philips MI7 - Eleco GR553 Philips MI8 - Phosco P224/226 Philips MU4 - Phosco P172 Philips MU6 - Eleco HW/PT1179 series Philips HRL10 - Eleco HW918/11600 Philips HRL40S - Eleco HW720 Philips Rhodes - Eleco Way Philips ??? - Eleco PT1007 Lunar Philips NVL - Schreder DM Philips SRP251 - American Electric SRP-18L (reliability of this observation uncertain) When it comes to Philips it seems like it may have been Philips who made lanterns under licence from other manufacturers rather than the other way round. For example, Eleco and Phosco both made more variants of some of the Philips products offered, and it seems Philips simply chose the most popular variants of these lanterns. It seems strange that Philips decided to sell some lanterns under licence given that their own product range was quite developed at the time. For example, why offer the MA5 in the UK when they could have offered the Dutch made SRM? Perhaps in the case of Britain it was a case of British Standards getting in the way somehow, even though we know that Dutch made Philips lanterns were installed back in the early 1970s on motorways where British Standards were most strict. Doesn't explain Eleco lanterns abroad though. |
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| Author: | Gramma6 [ Sun Oct 23, 2011 9:13 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Same lantern, different manufacturer |
I don't see the sense in making the same lantern as another manufacturer under licence unless it's for an overseas market when you have your own range of lanterns available. Maybe Philips helped Eleco and Phosco develop the lanterns in question and part of the deal was that they could sell their own versions of them too. It's just a theory. Not quite the same thing but aren't Kingfisher lanterns actually AEC imports? |
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| Author: | Phosco152 [ Sun Oct 23, 2011 9:29 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Same lantern, different manufacturer |
Sold under license can be a way of entering and developing a market without the expense of setting up your own production chain or own products. In many case the brand name sells the product - not who actually manufactured it. It is often done where a manufacturer is trying to establish a market and initial production values are low. Remember the Mazda 121 which was a rebadged Ford Fiesta from a few years ago? Similar thing with Vauxhall Fonterras - rebadged Isuzu Wizards. Wind back to 1960s and streetlighting lanterns, Phosco and Eleco were well established with large product lines, Philips in the UK at that time were not. The ploy paid handsome dividends which allowed Philips eventually to develop the Mi50/Mi26, the MA50/60/90 and of course the Iridium. |
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| Author: | Gramma6 [ Sun Oct 23, 2011 9:51 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Same lantern, different manufacturer |
Yeah, true enough, I never thought of it that way. I suppose by using tried and tested products if people bought the Philips version and were unaware of the other versions they would associate the Philips brand with a quality product. I bet Eleco were none too happy when Philips went on to develop the MA50/60/90 range which would eventually outsell and almost totally eclipse their GR range sales-wise. But that's business! 
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| Author: | sotonsteve [ Sat Sep 20, 2014 2:35 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Same lantern, different manufacturer |
A long time ago, Philips sold lanterns which were identical to those manufactured by other manufacturers, namely Eleco and Phosco. There has been a great deal of discussion as to who has licensed who to manufacture lanterns. For the purposes of clarification, it would appear that it is Philips that manufactured lanterns under its own name under license from Eleco and Phosco, or at least that is my opinion. I could go into detail as to why I have formed this opinion, but it relates largely to design cues across product ranges and cross-national differences. For example, the bowl clip on an Eleco HW918/Philips HRL10 is much like that used on an Eleco HW852. I've heard suggestion of the engineering of Philips/Eleco products abroad being non-metric. Furthermore, if comparing the UK and Netherlands, the design and construction of lanterns when certain products like the HW918 were launched were considerably different, with robust aluminium lanterns with enclosed optical compartments being popular in the UK and simple, lightweight open lanterns being popular in the Netherlands. The first clear success of Philips in the UK was the lighting of motorways in the early 1970s with Dutch-design lanterns. Philips wanted to get into the UK market, yet looking at the 1974 UK Philips catalogue, most products on offer were Eleco/Phosco designs and the Dutch designs had disappeared. Were their Dutch designed lanterns not proving successful enough? Of course, outside of the UK Eleco-design products were appearing under the Philips brand. I've seen some in both the Netherlands and Canary Islands, which are both Philips strongholds. Perhaps it was a case of if a powerful company like Philips uses its commercial might to sell Eleco products as its own across the continent, could Eleco help Philips to get its foot in the door of the UK? By the mid-1970s Philips needed no help though, as the legendary MA90/50/60 were launched. And given the names of the designers, Tony Butowsky and B. Rogers, it would appear that the MA SOX range was British in design. It was clearly based on earlier Dutch Philips products, but from visits to the Netherlands and discussions with enthusiasts, it seems that the SRS201 did not get the popularity over there for a few years after it gained popularity over here. In the Canary Islands, it was clear that Eleco products were still being made under the Philips brand in the 1980s. Sadly, this was the era when Eleco's lighting division became Davis and the decline started. |
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| Author: | Phosco152 [ Sun Sep 21, 2014 11:32 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Same lantern, different manufacturer |
Some further info from Simon Cornwell here. Also: sotonsteve wrote: Eleco Way = Philips HPP153 in Dutch nomenclature. |
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