Philips has a net worth in the billions, $20.67 billion as of July 12, 2023. (Source link) Yet they decided to create a kickstarter, charging “early bird” buyers these earphones that’s designed for wearing while sleeping, basically the same as any other earphones, just slimmed down and cables running around your head.
What’s infuriating is that there’s dumbasses who actually gave them money to make a product ($500k million in total), so Philips is most likely not taking any risk making this, but will enjoy the profits.
The kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kokoon/sleep-headphones/posts
I thought the whole point of a kickstarter was people with a product, but lacking the funds to get the project actually going getting a kick start to get going… Not for billion dollar companies to beg for cash.
Apparently, the actual company behind the headphones is a British firm called Kokoon Technology Limited.
I can’t find anything that explains their relationship with Philips.
The company Philips is a very different beast from what it was. Almost all Philips products you know are produced by other companies who pay a licensing fee to Philips to slap the name on it. Philips itself is a shell of its former self and is focused on medical equipment. It’s tragic actually, especially since ASML is a direct offspring of Philips. It should be a trillion dollar company but bad management and strategic shortsightedness have ruined it.