Royal Philips Electronics affirmed its position as the leader in mobile acoustic solutions by announcing the production of the one-billionth mobile phone loudspeaker at its plant in Vienna. This year alone, Philips Sound Solutions will produce some 330 million speakers for leading mobile phone vendors. The one billionth speaker is a culmination of nearly 80 years' work from an organization which began life making radios in 1929 and now produces the smallest and most powerful speaker in the world.

For Mario Rivas, executive vice president, Communications Businesses, Philips Semiconductors, the mobile phone speaker business is a particularly successful example of Philips' focus on 'Sense and Simplicity'. “It does not come as a surprise that the world music city of Vienna produces acoustic components with quality features that are unique worldwide“, said Rivas.

As the most sophisticated and popular loudspeaker to come out of the Vienna plant, the billionth produced is also the world's smallest - with a diameter of 8 mm and the same acoustic power as the larger 13mm version. Being compact and lightweight, it is ideal for multifunctional mobile phones as it saves space and weight for a variety of features, larger display and stronger batteries.